CincyTech's $10M attracts $100M in co-investments

CincyTech has invested $10 million in 28 local startup companies and helped its companies attract another $100 million in private co-investment since 2007.

CincyTech President Bob Coy announced CincyTech’s performance numbers at the venture development organization’s second Annual Big Breakfast Meeting and Startup Showcase Nov. 15.

More than 400 people registered to attend the meeting at Duke Energy Convention Center, and 35 startup companies and community partners participated in a Startup Showcase. CincyTech is a public-private partnership whose mission is to invest in high-growth startup technology companies in Southwest Ohio. Since it began its investment activity in May 2007, its 28 companies have created 207 jobs with an average annual salary of $63,000. CincyTech now has 167 active client companies.

Coy said CincyTech has led 50 percent of all venture capital deals in the region this year. “2011 was a year of tremendous momentum for us,” Coy says. “We had our first exit, with Blue Ash Therapeutics. We saw another of our companies, AssureRx, receive an $11 million funding round from major Silicon Valley venture capital firms Claremont Creek and Sequoia. We saw NanoDetection Technology, which moved here last year from Tennessee, oversubscribe its $2 million round by $300,000.

“We saw a cumulative total of $15 million invested in our companies from 35 individual investors. And we hit a major milestone by reaching $200 million in direct economic impact from those companies through investment capital, revenue, foundation and government grants and loans and corporate partnerships. At that rate, we will hit $1 billion of investment activity over the next five years.”

CincyTech partners participating in the meeting included Ohio Third Frontier, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, the University of Cincinnati and the Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber.

“Our community outreach includes providing the grants behind the Brandery and Cincinnati Innovates, mentoring and assistance at the X-Lab at Xavier University and partnership programs and funding to encourage students at Miami, Xavier, UC and NKU to start companies here,” Coy says.

The other organizations that contribute financial support to CincyTech are the Carol Ann and Ralph Haile/U.S. Bank Foundation; the Castellini Foundation; the Circuit; the Cities of Blue Ash and Mason; Fort Washington Capital Partners; the Greater Cincinnati Foundation; PNC Financial Services; River Cities Capital Funds; the Health Foundation of Greater Cincinnati, Thompson Hine and Wood Herron Evans law firms, and many private individual investors.

By Sarah Blazak