2022-23 Cintrifuse Impact Report
At Cintrifuse, everything we do is oriented toward driving talent, investment, and innovation into our region in order to make Greater Cincinnati a prominent startup ecosystem in the midwest and a top innovation hub in the country.
Cintrifuse empowers entrepreneurs by providing access to early-stage funding, designing purposeful programs, fostering key connections, providing high-quality resources, and sharing compelling narratives to establish a thriving startup economy across the region.
What distinguishes Cintrifuse is our unique role as a connector, bridging the support organizations across our ecosystem and leading initiatives that foster innovation throughout the entire region. Sitting at the heart of a vital national supply chain corridor and home to leading Fortune 500 companies, top universities and the nation’s #1 children’s hospital, we’re innovating with more speed, focus and creativity than ever before. Our strategy involves harnessing the collective strengths of these organizations to create radical step change in the economic vitality of our area and empower our region’s 320+ startups.
2023 was a challenging year for capital raised across the nation, and Greater Cincinnati followed this trend with only $244.5M of 2022’s $680M raised locally. Our flourishing ecosystem partnerships and initiatives were a bright spot amidst these challenges, driving greater visibility and impact for our region’s startups, further boosted by Cintrifuse Capital’s announced commitment to a new, more locally-focused fund that will maximize value through regional impact and financial return.
As we enter into a new year, we are moving aggressively to provide the capital that encourages more founders to take the leap into entrepreneurship, creating a bridge to later-stage funding, and fostering a connected and collaborative ecosystem. Through these strategic priorities, we expect to see a significant improvement in outcomes across the region.
Thank you for your continued support and championship of our city and the innovators that call it home.
The Cincinnati startup scene is full of people who truly care about innovation and the city. When interacting with StartupCincy, if I’m not learning something valuable, I’m making a valuable connection.
STARTUPCINCY WEEK ATTENDEE
Jake Whitman, Founder of Really Good Boxed Wine, after winning Cincy’s Got Startups pitch competition at StartupCincy Week with Cintrifuse team.
CINTRIFUSE CAPITAL
Forging New Ventures
Local startups in the Midwest tend to have significantly fewer funding options and need to show more data and customer traction all while taking in less capital than their coastal counterparts. These capital constraints limit the ability of our local companies to scale to true venture-scale outcomes.
Amidst this challenging investment environment, Cintrifuse’s registered investment advisor, Cintrifuse Fund Management, LLC (dba Cintrifuse Capital) has $175 million of Regulatory Assets Under Management, which it is leveraging to take bold steps to empower local startups in Southwest Ohio. The introduction of Fund III showcases a more locally-focused fund that will maximize value through regional impact and financial return.
With Fund III, we are continuing to invest in national and regional venture capital funds – an effort that will continue to grow the pipeline of potential follow-on investors for our portfolio companies. We also have a significant allocation in Fund III set aside for direct investments into companies in the Southwest Ohio region. Since the introduction of Fund III, we have already seen our $2.5M of capital deployed into 8 local start-ups attract $11.5M of outside capital. We anticipate this amount to continue to increase steadily as our investments continue and our region’s startups grow.
Cintrifuse Capital is driven by a strategy that goes beyond traditional investment models and has four primary focus areas:
- Fund of Funds
Cintrifuse Capital commits to ongoing investments in top national venture funds and skilled fund managers deploying capital in the region.
- Venture Creation
Engage in activities that lead to more venture-scale companies launching in the region, discovering and nurturing the next wave of startups.
- Direct Investment
Invest in local start-ups that are best positioned to drive venture-scale returns by offering capital & partnerships focused on mutual success.
- Acceleration
Cintrifuse Capital is set to propel portfolio companies through targeted programs covering essential areas like go-to-market strategy, sales pipeline management, and pitch deck refinement. Our approach includes activating a strong mentor-advisor network, offering valuable guidance on identifying value propositions, achieving product-market fit, and facilitating access to investors and potential beta/ pilot customers. Leveraging our network of corporate partners, among the largest employers in Southwest Ohio, we provide invaluable feedback and open doors for entrepreneurs as customers, investors, or potential acquirers.
It’s very clear that we need to support our ecosystem locally. That’s what we’re going to be working towards. At the end of the day, we need to create more companies locally.
J.B. KROPP Managing Director, Cintrifuse Capital
Top: Soundtrace, a comprehensive digital hearing conservation solution, team from left, Ryan Kast, CTO; Jeff Wilson, founder and CEO; and Matt Reinhold, COO, Bottom left: Katie Trauth Taylor, CEO & foudner of Narratize, an AI-powered storytelling platform, Bottom center: Aaron Chow, CEO and co-founder of Voxel, an additive manufacturing startup, Right: JB Kropp, Managing Director of Cintrifuse Capital, addresses a crowd at the Cintrifuse Annual Meeting
EMPOWERING FOUNDERS
Front door to the ecosystem
StartupCincy is a thriving ecosystem of startup accelerators, incubators, civic organizations, universities, and investors working toward a shared vision of making our region a leading startup hub and center for innovation. Cintrifuse plays a crucial role as the lead catalyst for the Greater Cincinnati ecosystem, spearheading multiple initiatives fostering the growth and success of startups.
Connecting & catalyzing our community
We are committed to fueling the Cincinnati startup ecosystem through high-quality programming and resources that enable entrepreneurs to upskill and make the critical connections needed to grow their businesses. Our events are designed to provide platforms for knowledge sharing and networking by intentionally pairing entrepreneurs with potential customers, corporations, venture capitalists, investors, mentors, and support organizations to create tangible impact.
Our ecosystem’s annual flagship event, brought together over a thousand entrepreneurs, investors, and startup catalysts from across the country to OTR for knowledge sharing, networking, and new collaborations. Led by the Cintrifuse team, the week-long event of 40 sessions reached over 130,000 people online through our social media channels, fostered hundreds of connections, and was a testament to the incredible ecosystem collaboration of key ecosystem partners.
The event brought together over 40 underserved minority and women-owned small businesses and tech experts to delve into impactful tech resources, equipping businesses with cutting-edge tools for growth and scalability. The day-long bootcamp featured workshops led by industry professionals such as Fifth Third Bank, BrandTrue, CustomGPT, Intuit QuickBooks, and Canva.
Partnering with ecosystem partners, the StartupCincy Speed Hustle brought together 51 Startups and 27 potential customers, and surfaced over 40 startups from across the community to visiting venture investors.
We created a vital safe space for female founders in the traditionally male-dominated tech industry through our International Women’s Day event, held in partnership with Together Digital. The panel, featuring influential female leaders and founders authentically tackled topics ranging from the war on talent to professional growth to venture capital, and how we can all (allies included) work to promote, empower, and bring more women to the table.
Cintrifuse is proud of the collaborative effort and partnership with the Mayor, REDI, VisitCincy, Jobs Ohio and other regional ecosystem stakeholders in winning the competitive pitch to Lightship Foundation’s national conference Black Tech Week. Relocated from Miami, FL to Cincinnati, OH in 2022, this important conference will be headquartered in our region for the next three years!
The 2023 Rethink Hack-a-thon, centered on recycling, brought together 18 startups, 13 corporate partners, and the City of Cincinnati, fostering scalable business models and showcasing innovative solutions. Beyond the event, the ecosystem came together to support the 10 finalist startups through an incubation program, positioning Cincinnati as a hub for entrepreneurial activity, driving sustainable practices and economic growth.
The Cincinnati startup scene is full of people who truly care about innovation and the city. When interacting with StartupCincy, if I’m not learning something valuable, I’m making a valuable connection.
STARTUPCINCY WEEK ATTENDEE
Top: Cincy’s Got Startups Showcase at StartupCincy Week, Bottom left: Subha Karthik, founder of EcoPal, a customized AI-powered ChatGBT module, at the Rethink Recycling Hack, Bottom right: Founders at NITRO! bootcamp
Empowering founders through personalized resources
Cintrifuse provides founders with the essential programs, resources and connections to succeed. This includes marketing services, access to competitive and industry data, accounting and legal consulting, talent and vital connections to potential funders and customers.
The StartupCincy Resource Compass: In collaboration with the City of Cincinnati, this provides entrepreneurs access to a comprehensive collection of vetted resources, ready to help them get started, grow and scale.
The StartupCincy Knowledge Hub: A vibrant and dynamic knowledge sharing platform for our ecosystem, housing a wealth of subject matter expertise contributed by our community members.
Next Generation Talent: Cintrifuse has created partnerships across our region’s startup ecosystem and innovation district to provide over 24 unique entrepreneurial internship opportunities to students from 12 Colleges and Universities. Collectively, the Cintrifuse intern cohort contributed over 15,000 hours of work for startups during their experience, learning to apply their skills in everything from marketing and HR tech to advanced software development and AI.
FinTech Frontier: FinTech Frontier is a future-focused partnership between regional industry-leading financial services corporations including Fifth Third Bank, Western & Southern, JobsOhio, and FinTech-focused entrepreneurs who see how technologies from AI to blockchain to IoT can make financial services more personal, private and accessible. In 2023, activities include a third cohort of 14 university student interns, a $160,000 FinTech Frontier Grant Program for local startups, and FinTech Founder Meetups.
Hub of Startup Support Services: In addition to existing support programs, we partnered with external vendors to provide custom support for members, as well as launching the Cintrifuse Data Desk, providing competitive intel and investor information. These programs aided members’ search for new talent, assisted with fundraising strategy, and improved their digital visibility and branding.
Startup amplification
Cintrifuse is focused on elevating local startup voices and positioning the region as a dynamic innovation hub through intentional storytelling. Our focused content brings the stories and insights of our region’s experienced founders to aspiring entrepreneurs. In 2023, our 70+ startup stories and related content made over 453,000 impressions online, promoting our region as a true startup hub where founders grow and thrive.
Top: Andrew Savitz, Founder & CEO, Canned Spinach, Left: Latosha Ward, CSO, BID, Right: Manny Addo, Founder & CEO, True Shea
UNION HALL
Our ecosystem home: Union Hall
Union Hall is where our community comes alive.
Union Hall is where our community comes alive. From startup features (like our 80 Acres vending machine!) and monthly community events to dedicated workspace where you can innovate alongside our region’s top startups, investors, corporations and universities, Union Hall is Greater Cincinnati’s startup hub. In 2023, we welcomed over 69,250 people through coworking memberships, event rentals, private office spaces, and a wide range of community events, reinforcing Union Hall’s place as the vibrant hub to our startup and innovation ecosystem in Greater Cincinnati.
Innovation space network: In 2023, Cintrifuse activated a network of innovation hubs, universities, coworking spaces, flexible offices, shared kitchens, and event venues with a shared mission to grow the innovation economy through the power of place. Together, these spaces and the people that run them are routing entrepreneurs, building community, growing technical expertise, and gaining market leadership for the region when it comes to innovation. As a part of this network, Cintrifuse launched the StartupCincy Ecosystem Passport, a program that allows entrepreneurs to explore all that the StartupCincy network has to offer, from coworking space to technical and mentoring based resources, without multiple memberships or fees.
Innovators that call us home
- 4Sight
- Abba Inc.
- Beltways
- Black Achievers
- Blue Ocean Solids
- Carbon Harvest
- CMA
- CourtAvenue
- Credder Inc.
- ECDI
- Endeavor
- Flowspace
- Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub
- Formative
- Fresho
- Gener8tor
- Heartland Ventures
- Hearty
- InnoVationGirls LLC
- Jersey Watch
- Katalyst Group
- Main Street Ventures
- MetaRouter
- Miami University Entrepreneurship Program
- NameCoach
- Narval
- Native
- Nettie
- Noshable
- Oopda Inc
- PanelVue
- Pieces
- PlaneKrafty
- PlayPosit
- Polar3D
- Possip
- Product Refinery
- Puffworks
- Really Good Boxed Wine
- Refinery Ventures
- Spatial AI
- SubterraAI
- UC Center for Entrepreneurship
- Unlearn
- Narratize
- WiPROSPER
Left: StartupCincy Week happy hour, Top right: Union Hall reception, Bottom right: Co-workers at a community lunch
Thank you to our board of directors and ecosystem partners for helping us to position the Greater Cincinnati region as a top innovation hub in the country.
Your unwavering support is instrumental in transforming the lives of entrepreneurs. Together, we are creating opportunities, fostering connections, and providing the resources necessary to empower aspiring founders and change the narrative around our region.
