Venture Capital : 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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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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As if launching a new product line and re-trademarking the phrase “The ball don’t lie!” weren’t enough, InfoMotion Sports Technologies Inc. has closed a $3.5 Series A investment round, all from individuals.

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Cavalier Capital LLC, a new hedge fund in Cleveland has attracted more than 40 investors and is investing in the stock of small companies, a strategy it will keep even as it grows, says founder and Willoughby native Ben Mackovak.

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The leading mobile workforce management software provider closes a major round of funding with California-based Technology Crossover Ventures to reshape the industry by enabling businesses to streamline operations, empower mobile employees and redefine the customer experience.

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Notice Software has closed a $350,000 seed round, led by the Rocket Venture Fund. Notice Software’s core technology uses push notifications to engage mobile device users with the web. Notice will use this funding round to expand its product offering to include e­tail and mobile workforce solutions.

Click here for the complete press release.

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 Aerospace Institute will host the Aerospace Capital Forum On July 9 in Cleveland.

The forum will address why aerospace investments are important to industry growth. Panel discussions will focus on aerospace capital for large businesses and growth capital investments for entrepreneurs and small companies.

Complete information is available here.

A young Hudson software company has received a $21 million investment from Summit Partners of Boston. The company, COMS Interactive, will use some of the money to add staff and tailor its software -- which is popular among nursing homes -- for other long-term care providers.

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Brecksville-based MOVABLE has raised $775,000 that it will use to ramp up sales and improve its products--colorful plastic wristbands designed to help people track how physically active they are, and software they use to access that data.

MOVABLE received $250,000 of that total from JumpStart Inc. The rest came from about a dozen individual investors. The company has raised $1.9 million since it was founded in 2011.

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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.

To its advocates, crowdfunding is a way for capital-starved entrepreneurs to receive financing that neither big investors nor lenders are willing or able to provide. To others, it represents a potential minefield that could help bad businesses get off the ground before they eventually fail, and in some cases could even ensnare unsophisticated investors in outright fraud.

Those fears are partly why the Securities and Exchange Commission has delayed rules allowing crowdfunding that were supposed to take effect this month as part of the JOBS Act (Jump-Start Our Business Start-Ups), signed by President Obama last April. The S.E.C. is wary of loosening investor protections that have been in place since the 1930s.

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Twelve years ago, the Queen City Angels were five guys who would meet at restaurants to talk about investing in local startups and who, group chairman Tony Shipley jokes, hadn’t gotten the memo that the dot-com bubble was about to burst.

Now three funds and 54 diverse companies later, the validation-stage and seed-stage investing group – the first of its kind in Ohio – has survived the dot-com bust and two recessions. Its 49 members have invested $33 million of their own money into regional startups, which has been leveraged into additional capital in excess of $200 million from other investors, and created 254 jobs.

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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.