Northeast Ohio gets a hefty share of Ohio Third Frontier Commission awards
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland Clinic, JumpStart Inc. and several other organizations and small companies in Northeast Ohio are among the recipients of a total of nearly $73 million from the Ohio Third Frontier Commission.
The commission late Wednesday, March 10, announced it had approved $72.7 million in funding “that will provide capital to innovative startup companies, advance medical technology, and foster young talent through a new High School Tech Internship Pilot Program.” Northeast Ohio companies and institutions received nearly $48 million of the funding.
Pre-Seed and Seed Plus awards
The Third Frontier’s Pre-Seed/Seed Plus Fund Capitalization Program supports Ohio-based angel and seed-stage funds that provide capital to startup and early-stage Ohio-based technology companies. The Ohio Third Frontier dollars leverage matching private investment.
Local recipients were as follows:
Case Western Reserve University was awarded $2 million for its CWRU Pre-Seed Fund. The fund will partner with University Hospital Ventures and the Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET) to invest in CWRU research institution spinout companies, as well as other early-stage opportunities in Northeast Ohio.
Cleveland Clinic was awarded $10 million for its Ohio BioValidation Fund VIII Plus. The fund will focus on early-stage, Ohio-based, biomedical and life sciences companies that have a strong affiliation with the Clinic.
Comeback Capital of Shaker Heights was awarded $1.5 million for its Comeback Capital Ohio Pre-Seed Fund. The fund has close relationships with startup studios run by gener8tor and The Brandery in Cincinnati and in Northeast Ohio, and will focus its investments on Ohio-based early-stage technology companies, primarily developing software applications for business and health care.
Innovation Fund America of Elyria was awarded $5 million for its Northeast Ohio Innovation Fund. The fund will focus on early-stage opportunities in targeted sectors, including software, biosciences, advanced energy and materials.
JumpStart Inc. of Cleveland was awarded $10 million for its NEXT II Fund. The fund will focus on Ohio-based technology startup companies and will invest in opportunities in software applications for business, health care and medical technology. It also was awarded $5 million for its JumpStart Evergreen Fund III targeting investments primarily in the areas of enterprise software, health care and medical technology, and $4 million for its Healthcare Collaboration Fund. That fund will partner with University Hospital Ventures and will target investments in Northeast Ohio technology startup companies primarily in the areas of biomedical and life sciences related to diagnostics, imaging, surgical instruments and equipment, implant devices, therapeutics, and regenerative medicine, as well as software applications for health care.
North Coast Angel Fund IV LLC of Shaker Heights was awarded $5 million for its North Coast Angel Fund IV. The fund will focus on high-growth business-to-business, software-as-a-service startups in Northeast Ohio.
North Coast Venture Fund II LP of Shaker Heights was awarded $4.5 million for its North Coast Venture Fund II. The fund will focus on business-to-business, software-as-a-service ventures in Northeast Ohio.
This article originally appeared in Crain’s Cleveland Business on March 10, 2021.