Columbus/Central Ohio : Featured Stories

Wake Up, Start Up! That's the name of a new monthly morning pitch series hosted by the Ohio State University's Technology Commercialization Office. The thing is, you've got to get up pretty early to be an innovator in today's high tech economy. Yet with the help of Central Ohio's leading entrepreneurs and brightest thinkers, OSU is not only waking up Ohio's new economy, it's helping to grow it, too.

Imagine if a traumatic event like a car accident fundamentally changed its shape (like shooting victim Arizona congresswoman Gabrielle Giffords). That kind of trauma has both a physical and aesthetic affect on the victim, and it takes many delicate surgeries to restore a person’s looks and healthy brain functioning. A growing Cleveland area startup OsteoSymbionics is working to improve that process, by developing a range of skull implants designed to help those recovering from skull trauma. 

Quitting smoking just entered the digital age with the E-vapor ciggy. Is kicking the nasty habit one of your New Year's resolutions? This digital vaporizer may be just the tool you need.

The Fuse Factory makes digital beauty accessible for the masses through education and art space. If you haven't seen what this lab can do with technology and arts, you're missing out on something special.

What's the best thing a city can do to achieve more economic success? Increase its number of college graduates. The most prosperous cities have the highest number of college grads. Read how the Talent Dividend calculates just how much college degrees add to a city's bottom line--think billions--and why cities from Cleveland to Cincinnati are among the 57 cities competing for the million dollar prize to boost college attainment.

Serial entrepreneurs can be found in every community and corner of Ohio. Finding a serial entrepreneur-turned venture capitalist is rarer. Rich Langdale is one of those.

While U.S. job growth overall may be stuck in neutral, IT professionals should be chomping at the bit. Experts say technology occupations will be at the leading edge of job growth for at least a decade. And three of the hottest cities for IT jobs right now are here in Ohio.

Bad Girl Ventures launched in Cincinnati last year as a unique form of micro lender: one focused not just on getting financing into the hands of women-owned startups, but also on providing the education and resources women need to build successful businesses. In the last year, BGV has attracted a lot of attention as it has grown in participation and geography, most recently announcing its expansion to Cleveland. hiVelocity caught up with Candace Klein, BGV's founder and CEO, to ask about the success of her non-profit.