Athens : Featured Stories

As the founders of Ecolibrium Solar, Coupsmart and other startups can attest, pre-seed funding is helping Ohio companies find their footing when their founders don’t have the financial resources to get started on their own.

Ohio is becoming ground zero for an expected renaissance of "printing" three-dimensional solid objects from computer models within manufacturing. A $70 million public-private pilot institute to promote the technology has been launched in Youngstown, while Columbus boasts one of the nation's largest enthusiast groups for 3D printing.

In today's world of widely distributed knowledge, companies can no longer afford to rely entirely on their own research. Many large companies are now using open innovation, or the adoption of external ideas and processes, to help solve business problems. Now, with the aid of a new program, help is available to assist middle market companies in adopting open innovation practices, as well.

Steve Case recently came to Cleveland to address entrepreneurial leaders from across the country who had gathered for the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds conference. After praising Ohio's innovation economy, he said that the key to creating more jobs in the U.S. is to support entrepreneurs and high-growth companies and argued policy leaders need to do more to spur innovation.

It's never been easier to validate an idea and launch a new company. Yet access to capital remains a critical issue for entrepreneurs. The upcoming National Association of Seed and Venture Funds Conference, to be held in Cleveland from October 15th-17th, will bring together a community of aspiring entrepeneurs and investors to explore ways to advance innovation capital.

If you're looking for evidence that venture capitalists are increasingly flocking to Ohio, look no further than the success of Athenian Venture Partners, whose 2003 AVP Ohio fund was recently ranked the top fund of its vintage by Preqin. That success is testament to the increasingly vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem in Ohio, which is drawing venture capital.

The communities competing for the $1 million Talent Dividend Prize have a modest goal: boosting the number of college degrees in their city by one percentage point. If every participating city meets that goal, it could raise national earnings by a stunning $124 billion.

One of the most widely read Fresh Water Cleveland  features was a story on Ohio's burgeoning craft distillery trend. But it wasn't all good news: As it stood at the time of publication, only one permit was allowed in each of Cuyahoga, Franklin and Hamilton counties. What's more, those few permit holders could distill but not sell their wares on-site. A new law eliminates the restrictions on the number of permits while enabling holders to sell their products directly to consumers.