Cincinnati : Buzz

The rise in the number of Cincinnati entrepreneurs getting money from local venture capital firms has been “dramatic,” according to venture capital lawyer David Willbrand, who is with Thompson Hine. The law firm has been putting together an annual update of local venture capital firms’ activity for the past decade. Earlier this week, Willbrand told a crowd of investors and entrepreneurs at the Greater Cincinnati Venture Association meeting that the difference between then and now is stark.

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Get a list of the projects approved here.

The University of Cincinnati and Ohio University claimed spots one and two, respectively, on a list of 12 top U. S. colleges where students get the "best bang for their buck."

Peruse the entire list here.

The world of computer-animated films wasn't on Paul Gerard's radar when he was pursuing a business degree at Miami University.

"I actually was going to get into banking. I had a very circuitous route from Miami University to Hollywood," says Gerard, director of creative development at DisneyToon Studios since 2008. The '89 Miami alum plays a key role in developing stories for films that will come to life on the silver screen.

He's been busy promoting Walt Disney Pictures' latest release, "Planes," which landed in theaters Friday, Aug. 9.

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Procter & Gamble is eying the Dayton region for a new 2 million-square-foot distribution facility and may have selected a location. Multiple sources have confirmed that the consumer goods giant from Cincinnati has been talking to developers around the area recently about the project.

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An Ohio manufacturer looks to drive a revolution in the health care television market.

Springboro-based PDI Communication Systems Inc., which has about 110 employees, started production in the last week of a tablet-like Android-based bedside television for that industry. Also known as the PDI-TAB, it is being billed as the only 14” bedside healthcare-grade HD television of its kind on the market.

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Venture capital investing in Ohio was up in the second quarter, even as numbers dipped nationally, according to a new report.

Nationally, $6.7 billion went to 913 deals. That’s down from $7.3 billion and 970 deals in the same quarter a year ago, according to the PwC/NVCA MoneyTree Report, which is based on data from Thomson Reuters. In Ohio, 20 deals accounted for $94 million of investment, up from 17 deals and $52 million a year earlier.

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Hillman Cos. Inc. has a new chief executive and big dreams to grow the Springfield Township-based hardware distributor into the region’s next billion-dollar business.That milestone is the company’s next growth target, which would be a long way from its beginning as a family-run store on Gilbert Avenue selling nuts, bolts and screws in 1964.

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Privately held real estate investment firms Hackman Capital Partners, LLC, of Los Angeles announced today the successful acquisition of a 28-building industrial real estate portfolio totaling 2,593,602 square feet. The transaction closed for the multi-tenant Ohio buildings on Friday, June 14.

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The Ohio International Market Access Grant for Exporters (IMAGE) program is now accepting applications. All activities must be pre-approved in advance and executed no later than September 30, 2013.

IMAGE is a 50 percent reimbursement program designed to offset the costs associated with certain exporting initiatives. IMAGE is funded by the State of Ohio and the United States Small Business Administration as part of the National Export Initiative to double U.S. exports by 2015. The purpose of IMAGE is to increase exports and create jobs in Ohio by helping small businesses expand into new international markets.

Click here for more information.

Ohio could add as many as 67,000 new entrepreneurs as a result of the federal government subsidies made available to aspiring business owners through the Affordable Care Act, according to a new report from the Urban Institute.

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Bright ideas are taking shape across Greater Cincinnati as the region embraces the value of supporting innovation that will create business and jobs for the future. The goal: to build an entrepreneurial ecosystem that supports the brightest startups with investment capital, physical space to grow and mentorship from top corporate, business and university experts in the region.


Read about all of Josh Pichler's 10 top startups to watch in 2013 here.

Overconfidence can be fatal for start-ups. That's why seed investor Mike Venerable, managing director of digital, software and health tech at CincyTech and a member of the CincyTech investment committee, prefers founders with unconventional traits.

Read the the whole Q & A between Venerable and Inc.com here.

GE Aviation in Cincinnati is revolutionizing the age-old rules of manufacturing and design with additive manufacturing, a 3D printing technology.

Watch a video of the new machine here.