Icon Pro Solutions CEO Waqar Hussain won a $5,000 Orange Innovation Fund grant from Syracuse University for Iconnic.Cloud. Iconnic.Cloud was one of seven Fall 2024 recipients, announced by Syracuse University Libraries on November 21, 2024.
Syracuse described Iconnic.Cloud as an artificial intelligence-driven compute pricing arbitrage platform. The grant went toward building it for small and midsize businesses.
What Is the Orange Innovation Fund?
The Orange Innovation Fund is a “concept to commercialization” grant program administered through Syracuse University Libraries. It helps graduate and undergraduate students move research and projects from ideation to proof of concept to commercialization.
Grants support tangible needs across four phases: discovery, testing, building and launching. Each award is tied to milestones for a defined project, over a clear timeframe, with identified outcomes.
Initial funding came from a gift by Raj-Ann Rekhi Gill ’98, a member of the Syracuse University Board of Trustees, with $50,000 available each academic year over five years.
What the Orange Innovation Fund Grant Was For
In the Syracuse announcement, Waqar Hussain explained what the award would help the team build:
“As a dedicated participant in the university’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, I am grateful for this award to help us build spot compute pricing arbitrage powered by AI. We are confident that with the support of the Orange Innovation Fund we can revolutionize cloud management services for small and medium sized businesses.”
Waqar Hussain, founder of Iconnic.Cloud
What Is Spot Compute Pricing Arbitrage?
Cloud providers sell spare capacity, often called spot compute, at prices that change with supply and demand. It usually costs less than standard on-demand capacity, but the provider can reclaim it, so it suits workloads that can handle interruptions.
Pricing arbitrage means comparing those prices to pick suitable capacity for each workload. Iconnic.Cloud’s grant project set out to use AI for those comparisons, for smaller businesses without a dedicated cloud team.
Iconnic.Cloud After the Grant
In August 2025, Syracuse University Libraries listed Iconnic.Cloud among its earlier Orange Innovation Fund recipients. It reported that Iconnic.Cloud “has launched in the market offering web functionality, optimized servers and cutting‑edge technology.”
Iconnic.Cloud’s Recognition at Syracuse University
- Fall 2024 Orange Innovation Fund: $5,000 grant, one of seven recipients
- 2025 Hunter Brooks Watson Spirit of Entrepreneurship Award: $2,000
- 2025 Panasci Business Plan Competition: second place, $7,500
- 2024 Panasci Business Plan Competition: second place, $7,500
- 2024 ’Cuse Tank: first place (tied), $10,000
- 2024 Raymond von Dran iPrize: one of ten winners, $2,000
- 2023 ’Cuse Tank: first place
Read the story of the 2025 Panasci Competition result, or see more of the company’s awards and recognition.
About Waqar Hussain
Waqar Hussain is the CEO of Icon Pro Solutions and the founder of Iconnic.Cloud. He is a member of the Whitman School’s MBA Class of 2025. Read more about Icon Pro Solutions.
FAQ: The Orange Innovation Fund and Iconnic.Cloud
How much did Iconnic.Cloud receive from the Orange Innovation Fund?
A $5,000 grant, as one of seven Fall 2024 recipients announced on November 21, 2024.
What is the Orange Innovation Fund?
A Syracuse University Libraries grant program that helps student projects move from ideation to proof of concept to commercialization, with funding tied to project milestones.
What was the grant for?
Building spot compute pricing arbitrage powered by AI, for cloud management services aimed at small and midsize businesses.
What is spot compute?
Spare cloud capacity sold at changing prices, usually below standard on-demand rates, that the provider can reclaim.
Who is Waqar Hussain?
The CEO of Icon Pro Solutions and the founder of Iconnic.Cloud, from the Whitman School’s MBA Class of 2025.
