This cohort reflects Venture Velocity’s focus on early-stage startups led by founders with lived, real-world experience—builders who are ready to test assumptions, sharpen strategy, and prepare for their first institutional capital raise.
What stands out about this group is the depth of operating experience behind the ideas. These founders understand the problems they’re solving and are building with discipline and intent. We’re excited to support them as their first capital partner to help them continue growing their companies in Cincinnati.
Through Venture Velocity, Cintrifuse Capital invests up to $250K in each company and works closely with founders to refine fundraising strategy, their pitches, and prepare for the next phase of growth. Founders have access to Cintrifuse’s active angel community and broader investor network, helping lay the groundwork for their capital journey. After the program, companies join a growing alumni community scaling in Cincinnati and contributing to a stronger, more connected startup ecosystem.
Get to know the companies in our next cohort and the innovators behind them:
AI-Enhanced Nutrition Built for Follow-Through
FeenX is an AI-enhanced nutrition platform designed to close the gap between knowing what to do and actually doing it. The platform turns personal data into adaptive meal plans, behavior-based habit systems, and a guided Meal Prep Blueprint that helps users stay consistent in real life. Built on behavioral science and preventative health, FeenX enables trainers, clinics, and wellness partners to deliver deeply personalized nutrition at scale, without adding complexity.
Alexa Teare brings leadership experience across startups, finance, and technology, including senior roles in global operations and talent development. Her professional background and personal health journey shaped FeenX’s focus on execution, behavior change, and long-term impact.
Modern Inspection for the Heavy Metal Industry
Eco Mercantile Corporation (EcoMerc) is developing a multi-sensor scanner powered by proprietary AI to improve quality control in metal manufacturing. By fusing real-time sensor data, EcoMerc detects alloy composition, surface defects, and internal flaws with high precision, bringing modern AI capabilities into industrial environments where accuracy, safety, and efficiency are critical.
Guillermo Gutierrez, CEO & Co-Founder: Guillermo brings over a decade of frontline drilling engineering experience, executing $100M+ in projects and leading complex on-site operations across safety, logistics, and third-party providers, including emissions work for deepwater wells. He later served as a product manager for data products that drove $15M in annual savings by reshaping drilling strategy. With graduate training from Carnegie Mellon, he combines operational depth with scientific and commercialization expertise to modernize heavy industry.
Manish Mishra, CTO & Co-Founder: Manish is an experienced AI engineer focused on real-time data pipelines and advanced machine learning for commercial systems. His work includes multi-sensor reinforcement learning models for autonomous trains that reduced fuel use by 5%, thermal vision systems for low-light detection, and camera–LiDAR fusion projects that cut CAD processing time from hours to minutes. He brings strong technical depth paired with product-scale execution.
Payments and Operations for Independent Music Venues
RiffPay is a centralized fintech platform that unifies bookings, invoicing, payments, and financial reporting for independent artists and live-entertainment venues. By automating back-office workflows and accelerating payouts, RiffPay helps creators and venues operate more efficiently and grow sustainably.
Tammie Scott, Founder: Tammie brings more than a decade of experience in entertainment management with Roc Nation and the NFL Players Association, along with firsthand experience running a live music venue. Her insight into the industry’s operational gaps informs every part of RiffPay’s product.
Instant Quotes to move Projects from Site to Signed
Instant Quote connects landscapers, hardscapers, suppliers, and homeowners through a single unified ecosystem. Contractors generate accurate quotes instantly, suppliers integrate interactive catalogs directly into proposals, and homeowners receive faster, more reliable responses. The platform reduces friction across the quoting process and helps contractors spend less time estimating and more time executing.
Ty Dominguez, Co-Founder: Ty brings hands-on experience in landscaping sales paired with a background in data analytics. Having worked directly with contractors and customers, he understands where quoting, lead generation, and supplier coordination break down in practice.
Divyesh Bommana, Co-Founder: Divyesh is a computer science master’s student at the University of Cincinnati specializing in AI, large language models, and multimodal research. His work focuses on translating advanced research into production-ready systems, building AI tools that deliver practical, measurable value.
Over the coming weeks, these founders will work closely with Cintrifuse, mentors, angels, and peers to refine their strategies, pressure-test their assumptions, and prepare for the next chapter of growth. We’re excited to welcome this group into the Venture Velocity community and to support them as they build, raise, and scale their companies in Cincinnati—adding to a growing network of founders who are choosing to grow here and help shape the region’s next generation of high-growth startups.
Interested in joining our next cohort?
If you’re an early-stage, venture-backable startup with a big vision and a real problem to solve, Venture Velocity is built for you. Through an intensive cohort model, we provide targeted programming, pitch readiness, deep mentorship, and high-touch support to help you raise your first round and gain traction fast. Apply now to join the next generation of high-growth founders building with Cincinnati, not just in it.
These materials were prepared exclusively by Cintrifuse, and the opinions expressed herein are current as of the date of publication. Information prepared from third-party sources is believed to be reliable though its accuracy is not guaranteed. Opinions expressed in this commentary reflect subjective judgments of the author based on conditions at the time of writing and are subject to change without notice. Cintrifuse is an SEC registered investment advisor. Registration does not imply any level of skill or training.