Ohio Third Frontier Awards Up To $13.875m To Southwest Ohio To Support Entrepreneurs And Grow Innovative Companies

The Ohio Third Frontier Commission has awarded up to $13.875M to CincyTech LLC under a program that helps entrepreneurs grow technology and life science startups in Ohio.  CincyTech leads the Ohio Third Frontier’s Southwest Ohio Entrepreneurial Services Program (ESP), which includes several organizations in the region’s startup ecosystem.  ESPs around the state provide resources to help early stage technology entrepreneurs bring their ideas to market.  

Those resources include:

• Mentorship by seasoned entrepreneurs and industry professionals
• Access to investors and capital
• Business support including legal, tax and accounting services
• Assistance developing intellectual property and marketing/sales strategies
• Recruiting talent
• Incubators providing state-of-the-art workspaces
• Accelerators guiding entrepreneur teams through a business “boot camp”

“This award will fund the Brandery, CincyTech, Cintrifuse, HCDC and the UC Accelerator through 2019,” said CincyTech president and CEO Robert W. Coy.  

“The state award is being matched 1:1 by local corporations, foundations, governments and research institutions and will accelerate the momentum of entrepreneurial activity in the Southwest Ohio.”  

“We are supporting the problem-solvers and businesses that are building a new Ohio,” said David Goodman, director of the Ohio Development Services Agency and chair of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, in a news release. “The investment in innovators will continue to create jobs.

”The Ohio Third Frontier has been catalytic to the growth of the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Southwest Ohio.  Said Coy, “It has enabled CincyTech portfolio companies to raise $630 million in investment, and to create more than 900 hundred high paying jobs since 2007.  

These companies will continue to grow and to spin out other startups in the future.”The ESP grant award is part of $67.4M approved by Ohio Third Frontier to support entrepreneurs and early stage technology companies in Ohio.  ESPs in Cleveland, Columbus and Athens also received grant awards.