JumpStart Event Has Grown to Become Northeast Ohio’s Biggest Single-day Entrepreneurial Event  of  the Year, Drawing More than 1,500 Attendees

On June 19, JumpStart will once again team with some of its closest partners and collaborators for Startup Scaleup—an event celebrating the growth of Northeast Ohio’s entrepreneurial ecosystem and showcasing the full array of local resources available to help entrepreneurs succeed.

The full-day, festival-style event will be held in Cleveland’s booming Flats East Bank neighborhood. Over the course of the day, more than 50 different workshops, panels, sessions and networking events will occur in 13 different spaces throughout the area.

New features for 2019 include sessions focused specifically on the experiences of Latinx entrepreneurs, an emerging track for students and founders who are just getting started in their entrepreneurial journey and a “Pick Your Panel” session, where event attendees select who they want to see on stage from a group of 10 finalists.

“Our city, region and state are working harder and more closely than ever before to create a welcoming climate where all entrepreneurs have the support they need to grow their businesses,” said JumpStart CEO Ray Leach. “Startup Scaleup is a place where these entrepreneurs can connect directly with the many people and organizations dedicated to helping them succeed while gaining insights from industry experts and meeting others who are on a similar entrepreneurial journey.”

“The connectivity piece of this event is what really makes it special,” added JumpStart President Cathy Belk. “It goes beyond conversations and information sharing and actively works to create spaces where entrepreneurs can form new and meaningful relationships with potential advisors, investors, customers, employees and each other.”

In addition to the traditionally strong lineup of local entrepreneurs, small business owners, investors and support organizations, this year’s event will also feature several guest speakers from outside Northeast Ohio.

Highlighted sessions include:

• Tesla Talks: A Poolside Chat
  Tiara Thurston, Tesla’s General Manager for the Central US, and Rick Stockburger from the Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center talk electric vehicles, solar panels, storage batteries and other innovations poised to transform our daily lives.
• BLK hack Cleveland Presents: The Bigger Picture!
  Harlem Capital Venture Partner John Henry and Radio One Cleveland’s Rohnesha Horne talk about the hard work of creating change while raising and deploying capital to an underrepresented group that gets less than 2% of all venture capital investment.
• Crazy Ideas with “Loonshots” Author Safi Bahcall
  Physicist, entrepreneur and popular author Safi Bahcall examines environments that nurture innovation while reminding us how many ideas we take for granted today were once written off as “crazy.”
• Meet the Investors: Tips for Tech Companies
  Experienced venture capital investors discuss their approach to funding companies and how stage, sector and other factors inform not only how a company raises capital, but who they raise their capital from.
• Hometown Luxury: Building a High-End Brand in Cleveland
  A panel of successful women entrepreneurs (Jackie Watcher from Fount, Valerie Mayen from Yellowcake, Anne Harrill from Océanne, Nicole Dzurko from Revival Body Care and Mimi May from Maeve’s all Natural) lead a conversation about building globally relevant fashion, jewelry and body care brands from right here in Northeast Ohio.
• Women Talk Tech
  Lauren Washington, co-founder of Black Women Talk Tech and JumpStart President, Cathy Belk discuss how the entrepreneurial journey is different for women.
• Finding the Front Door
  Meet the Northeast Ohio Startup Network, a collaborative group of people and organizations who work together to help tech startups succeed. Learn how they all work together to get tech entrepreneurs the help they need.
• Hidden Gems: Five Community Orgs Ready to Help You Explore Your Great Idea
  Meet several great organizations whose valuable resources for all small business owners sometimes fly under the radar. Learn how they can help turn great ideas into great companies.
• Brand the Land
  Hear from the people who helped shape the modern image of Cleveland and the local businesses who have weaved this image into the branding of their products and services.

Tickets for the June 19 event are $20 and include a $15 lunch voucher, as well as a $5 snack voucher redeemable at various local food spots in the Flats East Bank.

To register and learn more, visit www.startupscaleup.org.

Startup Scaleup’s title sponsors are KeyBank and The Ohio Third Frontier. Platinum-level sponsors include Burton D. Morgan Foundation and Thompson Hine. Gold-level sponsors: 1848 Ventures backed by Westfield, PNC Bank. Silver-level sponsor: Vantage Financial Group. Bronze-level sponsors: Adam Kaufman, Taft, Rock the House. Pewter-level sponsors: Calfee, Dominion Energy, Skoda Minotti Emerging Companies Practice.

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About JumpStart Inc.
JumpStart is a nationally recognized investing, entrepreneurial support and economic development organization dedicated to unlocking the full potential of diverse and ambitious entrepreneurs to economically transform entire communities. For more information, follow @JumpStartInc on Twitter.