Downtown Cincinnati’s Experience Management Group has secured a $200,000 seed-stage investment from CincyTech for its high-tech approach to connecting employees relocating to Cincinnati with the resources to make them feel at home.
The company’s Compass online platform identifies an individual's or family’s personal needs and outside interests and helps connect them to resources like places to eat, shop or catch a live show.
"Being a transplant to Cincinnati myself, I realize the difficulty of finding a network,” Blackbook founder Chris Ostoich said. “Moving to a new place can be a culture shock. So after moving here, I became a student, in a sense, of employee turnover and what it costs companies, and how embedding people in a community makes it less likely they’ll leave.”
Blackbook is CincyTech’s 11th portfolio company. CincyTech investment development director Jeff June worked closely with Ostoich over the last year on developing his plan.
“Chris Ostoich is a driven entrepreneur and receptive to guidance on moving Blackbook forward and preparing the company for a seed-stage investment,” June said. “CincyTech looks forward to working with Blackbook to execute on their existing customers and developing the IT infrastructure to support Blackbook as it grows.”
Blackbook’s services aim to help companies retain and recruit good employes by easing the transition into a new city and lifestyle.
Writer: Feoshia Henderson
Source: Carolyn Pione, Communication Director CincyTech
Photography by Scott Beseler
Enjoy this story?
Sign up for free solutions-based reporting in your inbox each week.