When JumpStart created VC Fest in 2023, we started with a simple belief: if we could bring more founders and investors together, we could help more startups succeed.

And it made sense. Access to capital is one of the biggest challenges founders face. Venture funding provides the runway to turn an idea into a growing company.

But building and evolving VC Fest has taught me something important: capital is only one part of the journey.

The startups that succeed need more than a check. They need customers, strategic partners, industry expertise, mentors and people willing to open doors.

The bigger opportunity was creating more chances for the right people to find each other.

Sometimes the conversation that changes a startup’s trajectory isn’t with an investor. It’s with the corporate leader who becomes their first enterprise customer, the manufacturer willing to test a new technology or the healthcare organization ready to pilot a solution.

A venture-backed company is not built in isolation.

That realization has fundamentally changed how I think about VC Fest and about corporate engagement.

Having worked with large enterprises throughout my career, I understand why startup partnerships can be challenging. It’s easy to ask why corporations don’t move faster, but the reality is more nuanced.

Large organizations are built for reliability, scale and managing risk. Partnerships require navigating procurement, security, compliance and competing priorities.

That isn’t a lack of interest. It’s the reality of operating at scale.

The answer isn’t to ask corporations to operate like startups. It’s to create easier pathways for corporations and startups to find meaningful opportunities to work together.

Because the value is mutual.

→ For startups, a corporate partnership can provide validation, expertise and access to markets.

→ For corporations, startups bring fresh thinking, emerging technologies and new ways to solve business challenges.

This is why VC Fest has evolved beyond a founder-investor event. Today, it’s designed to create opportunities for founders to connect with the corporate leaders, investors and ecosystem partners who can help turn their vision into venture.

Ohio was recently named CNBC’s No. 1 State for Business, and we have the companies, industries and entrepreneurial talent to make these connections matter. VC Fest is one way to bring them into the same room with more purpose.

That’s the role I hope VC Fest continues to play.

Not simply another event, but a connector: a place where founders meet future customers, corporations discover new ideas and investors find promising companies.

If you’re joining us this year, come with one simple goal: meet five people you wouldn’t normally meet.

Don’t get ahead of yourself worrying about securing a signed deal, a pilot or even a second meeting. Just start with a conversation—simply “connect.”

Because the future of Ohio’s innovation ecosystem won’t be built by startups alone. It will require the companies that built this state to help build what comes next.

The question isn’t whether Ohio has the ingredients to innovate. We do.

The question is whether we create enough opportunities for those ingredients to come together.

That’s what “Connecting Vision to Venture” is all about.

To learn more and register for JumpStart VC Fest on September 29 & 30 at the Huntington Convention Center in downtown Cleveland, visit ohiovcfest.com.