Steven Edward Freidmutter

Steven Edward Freidmutter, 70, of Ithaca, New York, passed away peacefully on November 1, 2025. He was a beloved son, brother, friend, and entrepreneur.

Always proud of his Brooklyn roots, Steven traveled through life embracing new opportunities. He explored Europe and Israel after graduating high school, received a bachelor’s degree at SUNY Albany, and settled in Ithaca, NY, where he kept a home base for the rest of his life.

Steven worked at Cabbagetown Café in Ithaca, then went on to operate his own vegetarian restaurant in Gloucester, MA for two years. Later in life, he switched to the other side of the plate and for a brief time was a restaurant critic for a local Ithaca newspaper. Later, he was Comptroller at Evaporated Metal Films in Ithaca, bringing his brand of personal connection to the manufacturing floor daily, followed by starting and running a successful business issuing second mortgages.

In his forties, Steven moved to San Ramon, Costa Rica, several hours outside the capital city. He recognized the beauty of this quiet spot and joined the welcoming community, honing his Spanish, and becoming known as a ‘tico’, a term for a native of Costa Rica. With his partner, Janet Shure, Steven bought, remodeled, and sold custom homes, employing local tradespeople. He married his interests in food and real estate by owning a coffee farm, proud to be contributing to the community in yet another way.

Eventually returning to Ithaca full-time, he had a time-limited stint as a visiting entrepreneur at Cornell, helping to advise them on business opportunities for their intellectual property and patents. Steven also served on the SXSW Education Advisory Board for several years. Building on this marriage of technology and education, and always looking for the next exciting opportunity, he invested locally in venture capital firms that fund women-led businesses – Chloe Capital and Astia.

In his sixties, Steven expanded his interests to the continent of Africa, where he invested directly in numerous startups. He then turned his support to Launch Africa Ventures, which backs startups that tackle the most meaningful challenges on the continent. He took pride in being a child of immigrants and first-generation Americans and was drawn to helping founders and leaders to succeed against significant odds.

Before and during COVID, Steven nurtured a robust online community where he advised young African entrepreneurs who were striving to improve their communities. He often mentioned with a smile how young African entrepreneurs would recognize him at events and spoke of the joy he felt mentoring and championing this next generation of leaders.

Steven was diagnosed with advanced kidney disease in 2022 and diligently sought natural and non-invasive methods to keep the disease at bay and his life as normal as possible. He continued to invest, mentor, and travel, spending time in Cape Town, South Africa, to be closer to the entrepreneurs he was backing. Ultimately, Steven’s health declined to where dialysis was his only option. Never wanting to be limited, he refused this course of treatment and chose to live, and die, on his own terms. In his last days, he was surrounded by loved ones, and wished a smooth transition by friends, partners and acquaintances across the globe.

Steven is survived by his sisters Cindy and Jill (partner Kathy Luz Herrera), his stepsister Debbie Haber (partner Marc Deitch) and nephew Daniel.

Steven was laid to rest in Greensprings Natural Cemetery in Newfield, NY.

In lieu of flowers, donations can be made in Steven’s memory to World Central Kitchen. A celebration of his life will be planned in Ithaca and online at a later date.