Entrepreneurial Programs : Buzz

Join other industry experts at the 2012 19th Annual NASVF Conference "Advancing Innovation: Seeding Tomorrow’s Opportunities” which will take place in Cleveland, Ohio October 15th -17th. Register here.

The Ohio Capital Fund, Ohio Venture Association, JumpStart, TechColumbus and CincyTech are working to plan the Great Lakes Venture Fair for October 17-18th in downtown Cleveland.

This day-and-a-half event will be a fast-paced gathering for investors and entrepreneurs, featuring the highest potential entrepreneurs and their venture-backable companies from Ohio and the Midwest.

Starting Wednesday afternoon immediately following the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds meeting, the Venture Fair will feature early stage opportunities and a reception in the evening. The following day, the program will include presentations showcasing the best of the region's vigorous startup and investment activity and driving the conversation around building future growth.

The GLVF builds upon momentum driven by seven successful years of The Ohio Capital Fund's Early Stage Summit programs.

Click here for complete conference information and registration.

A few years ago, when Bryan Jowers and Justin Stanislaw were dreaming up an app to help friends pool money to give gifts, they felt they needed to leave Houston to improve their chances of finding investors and forging connections. Instead of relocating to a Silicon Valley hotspot, they moved to Cincinnati, lured by a startup accelerator called The Brandery. As one of six startups participating in the summer of 2010, they got 12 weeks of intensive help building their product, called Giftiki.

Read the full story here.

For the past five years, UT has been an active member of BioOhio, a nonprofit bioscience membership and development organization committed to connecting demand for biological products and services with Ohio entities that can fill those needs.

The UT Technology Transfer Office, BioOhio and other organizations play a critical role in connecting the University’s research initiatives to companies with the knowledge, experience and financial stability to bring the fruits of that research to the marketplace.

Read the full story here.

TechColumbus announced this week its commitment to invest $500,000 from its Pre-Seed Fund in Nanofiber Solutions LLC to advance innovations in cell culture technologies and regenerative medicine. Click here to read the full article.

The Innovation Engine Accelerator is a digital media business accelerator located in Ohio University's business incubator, the award-winning Innovation Center.  Made possible by public and private support, the Innovation Engine Accelerator is launching its inaugural 10-week boot camp class providing seed funding of up to $20,000 each for five teams this summer.  Applications are available now. Click here to read the full article.

On Wednesday, April 18, the crowdfunding industry’s 13 top debt and equity crowdfunding platforms and industry experts met to create a Statement of Intent for a lasting organization that will champion, advocate for, and represent the global crowdfunding industry. Two days later, this group—the Crowdfund Intermediary Regulatory Association, or CFIRA—presented its Statement of Intent to the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC).  CFIRA’s complete Statement of Intent can be found on www.Crowdsourcing.org.

The America21 Project and BioEnterprise are hosts of a groundbreaking national conference dedicated to promoting and accelerating underrepresented minority healthcare innovation and entrepreneurship.  

The First Annual Minority Biomedical Entrepreneurship Conference will be held on May 21 – 22 at the Cleveland Marriott, overlooking the construction of the Cleveland Medical Mart and Convention Center. View event information here.

A new accelerator program for startups in New Albany will help them continue to grow.  At the March 20 meeting of New Albany City Council funding was approved for creation of a new 7,100-square-foot "business accelerator" space. Read the full story here.

TechColumbus’ fifth annual report to the community highlights the progress Central Ohio has made in cultivating talent, catalyzing new businesses and creating the type of entrepreneurial ecosystem that is driving the region’s success in the 21st century global economy. Read the full story here.

The deadline for nominations for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year award has been extended to March 23rd. For more info, click here.

Dr. Hiroyuki Fujita is Founder, President, and CEO of Quality Electrodynamics in Cleveland, Ohio, and last on January 24th, 2012 he was a guest in the First Lady's box at the 2012 State of the Union. He reflects on the experience here.

According to this Inc.com article, Cincytech wants to help startups identify their 'minimum viable concept.' Read it here.

In June, 50 recent college graduates from some of the best schools in the U.S. will join startups in struggling cities as part of Venture for America, a new program designed to help young companies, promote entrepreneurship and generate job growth. Read about it here.