There’s less than 12 hours on the clock for 2018.
So, naturally, we at Cincy wanted to pop some champagne and look back at the past year. We’re doing just that with our “End of Year” series (Part one covered our “Office Envy” pieces and you can read that here; we also did a “2019 Startups to Watch” post here). In this installment, we’re pouring over big headlines, fun profiles and interesting guest posts that lit up our 2018.
There’s lots happening in Cincy, as you’ll read below, and the ecosystem has much to be proud of when it considers its year. Citius altius fortius in 2019!
HEADLINES
Local Startup Ahalogy Acquired for Up to $50M, Netting Big Win for Cincy’s Ecosystem
[June] In a big win for the Cincinnati startup ecosystem, Quotient Technology Inc., parent company of Coupons.com, has acquired Mount Lookout-based Ahalogy in a deal for up to $50 million, including $20 million in cash.
Along with the $20 million, the Mountain View, Calif. tech company could end up paying the additional $30 million should Ahalogy, a marketing technology platform that helps brands connect seamlessly with their consumers’ interests, achieve a host of financial goals by the end of 2019’s fiscal year.Ahalogy and its 45-employee team will stay in the Queen City, led by its current CEO and cofounder Bob Gilbreath.
The company launched in 2012 as Pingage, a nod to the fact that it initially specialized in Pintrest marketing. Since then, Ahalogy expanded into other social media platforms, launching two core products, Muse, a source of influencer trend data, and Brandables, a platform for influencer marketing campaigns.
The acquisition, which is set to be finalized later this month, represents a solid return for Cincinnati’s innovation economy. Ahalogy was a graduate of local accelerator The Brandery and received funding from local firms: public-private investment entity CincyTech and Vine Street Ventures, led by The Brandery’s cofounders. The startup also received investment from Chicago-based Hyde Park Venture Partners and Cleveland-based North Coast Angel Fund. Additionally, Origin Ventures led Ahalogy’s Series A fundraising round in December 2013, and subsequent fundraising rounds through 2016. The company ultimately raised four rounds of funding totaling $10.2 million, Crunchbase states.
Read more here.
Former Nestlé Director to Serve as Cintrifuse’s New CEO
[August] Mark Payne: Cintrifuse has a new CEO.
On Aug. 23, the economic development entity announced that Pete Blackshaw, formerly of Nestlé, will take over for Wendy Lea, who called time on her tenure earlier this year. He will formally step into the role on Nov. 1.
While Blackshaw is currently based out of Switzerland for his most recent role of vice president of digital innovation and service models at Nestle, he has considerable history within the Queen City; he spent his early years as a Procter & Gamble executive, working on brands such as Bounty, and he was also on the first digital marketing team at Procter & Gamble.
“Pete was among the very early pioneers who created new marketing and advertising models while he was at P&G, allowing our brands to engage consumers and set new industry standards,” David Taylor, P&G’s chairman, president and CEO.
Read more here.
Powderkeg Debuts First-Ever Cincinnati Tech Census
Cincinnati has a new resource in town.
Powderkeg, an Indianapolis-based community-as-a-service platform for entrepreneurs, investors and other professionals based in tech hubs between the coasts, has debuted the city’s first-ever tech census report. Created in partnership with Cintrifuse, the report includes data culled from insights of more than 200 participants from across #StartupCincy.
“The Cincinnati tech community is crushing it, and people need to know about it,” Kevin Bailey, CMO and integration lead at Powderkeg, told Cincy Inno. “Our hope is that when the world sees this data, it’ll draw more investors and talent into the ecosystem, and cause more boomerangs back from the coasts.”
The data covers everything from diversity stats to the amount of funding provided from angel investors, with words of wisdom and insights from community leaders sprinkled throughout.
Read the full story here.
What Cincy (and Everyone Else) is Saying About the Amazon HQ2 News
[November] As you may have heard, Amazon has officially decided to split its HQ2 between two locations: Crystal City, Va. and Queens, New York. The news broke this morning.
This means that the two spots will receive $5 billion via construction investments, with an estimated 25,000 jobs each, Amazon said in a statement. For everyone else, the announcement marks the conclusion of more than a year of speculation as to where the new HQ would land and more than 200 applications from cities eager to earn the distinction.
Although Inc. Magazine first named Cincy No. 3 on a list of potential HQ2 locales, the Queen City’s Amazon journey ended earlier this year. REDI Cincinnati CEO Johnna Reeder, who was a part of many conversations with Amazon during the city’s courtship of the company, said that while Amazon appreciated Cincy’s “sense of place” and its collaboration with many regions and states, the city ultimately didn’t have the proper amount of tech employees and graduates necessary to land HQ2.
For some, the news wasn’t met with that much disappointment. “Thanks for Not Picking Us, Amazon!,” wrote CEO and founder of Cerkl, Tarek Kamil, in an post for LinkedIn. Kamil argued this spurn will end up being a boon for the city and the region, as “there’s simply no sense of urgency to foster technology into our educational system.”
“Why can’t coding be considered a foreign language?” Kamil continues. “It’s more ubiquitous than any language spoken — including English. … Why are students in Ohio required to graduate with a personal finance credit but there are NO requirements for technology to graduate high school?”
Read the full story here.
Extra, Extra
- Wisconsin’s gener8tor to Bring Accelerator to The Brandery with New Partnership [February]
- Cintrifuse CEO Wendy Lea Announces Departure [March]
- Venture Smarter Unveils $50M Project-Funding Prize for Smart City Innovators [April]
- HCDC launches county’s Office of Innovation and Creativity [May]
- Genetesis Completes Oversubscribed $7.5M Series A [June]
- Abre Debuts Program to Turn Teachers’ Experiences into Courses [June]
- ActionStreamer, Monumental Sports Network Expand Partnership [June]
- Tilr Enters 13 New Markets [June]
- UpTech, Wunderfund Announce Funding Partnership [July]
- SaaS Capital Files for Third $75M Flagship Fund [July]
- One of Cincy’s Largest Tech Cos Acquired for $79M [August]
- ConnXus, Procurement Leaders Debut Diversity Partnership [August]
- Los Angeles Incubator Adds Cladwell to Portfolio [September]
- Cincy Outerwear Company Raises $5M Seed Round [October]
- Enable Injections Closes Series B with Up to $50M [October]
- Got Bitcoin? You Can Now Use it to Pay Your (Business) Taxes [November]
- $4.2M Raised in Enosix’s Series B Round [December]
- Platform 53 Acquired by The Living Room [December]
- HCDC Has New President and CEO [December]
- ICYMI: Eccrine Systems Receives ‘Key’ Patent [December]
INNO BIG ONES
- Cincy Inno’s Inaugural 50 on Fire: “We are pleased to introduce our inaugural 50 on Fire, a celebration of the early-stage businesses, enterprises and innovators who are doing especial work to set the ecosystem ablaze.”
- Cincy Inno’s 25 Under 25: 25 rising entrepreneurs, technologists and innovators under the age of 25.
- And the Tech Madness Winner Is… “It’s a reader-driven bracket competition a la March Madness that aims to champion and highlight local startups — 32 of them, to be exact. These startups faced off bracket-style over the past few weeks until the winner was determined.”
- The 19 Cincinnati Startups to Watch in 2019: “From our perspective, there are a few elements that make a startup worth keeping an eye on. One is fast-paced scale. Two, representation (and success) in local or national pitch competitions, funding rounds or by receiving significant grants and awards. Three, the startup in question is doing something so new and interesting in the ecosystem that you can’t look away.”
PROFILES
- CrownMob Takes the Hassle Out of Searching for Hair and Skin Care Products: "We’re building a tech company for the consumer that’s been underserved and overlooked in the arena of beauty and style for so long that it sets us apart naturally.”
- Cincy-Based Immersed Set to Launch VR Office Space: “It feels like your co-workers are there right beside you, because you see their bodies, you can see their interactions.”
- How Morgan Owens Teaches Women to be Their Authentic Selves: “Women in the African-American community sometimes are afraid to work out because we don’t want to sweat our hair out and release our natural curls,” Owens continued. “I’m trying to instill the empowerment of rocking those natural curls and being confident in curls like you’re going be confident in your curves.”
- This Nonprofit Vet Caters to Pets, Low-Income Owners: "We’re there just to serve those people who are having a hard time affording their pets.”
- ‘Providing Clarity, Strategies and Solutions’: Meet the Black Career Women’s Network: “I really developed a passion for wanting to work with the women, so I decided I wanted to create an organization or some type of platform where we could be heard, and we could get the support that we need.”
- This Hillman Grad Warms Babies in 8 Countries and 11 Hospitals: “Doctors and nurses have instant access to warmth that is safe and controlled."
- This UC Leader Uses Entrepreneurship, Law to Help People: “I try to look for opportunities to collaborate in the community. We can have a greater impact if we collaborate with local organizations.”
GUEST POSTS
The VC Unicorn Obsession is Creating an Early Stage Funding Wasteland — Flavio Lobato, Principal and Co-Founder at Ikove Capital
Why Ahalogy is Excited to Join Quotient Technology — Bob Gilbreath, Co-Founder and CEO of Ahalogy Pitching on the Coasts: 2 Cincinnati Startup Founders Talk Fundraising — Matt Hunkler, Founder and CEO of Powderkeg Five Lessons Entrepreneurs Can Learn From Cincinnati Chili — Tamara Schwarting, CEO of 1628 LTD The Stages of Growing a VC Market (And Why the Midwest is on the Cusp) — Bill Baumel, Managing Director at Ohio Innovation Fund What This Year’s Big Pitch Stories Reveal About Inclusivity and Diversity — Katie Trauth Taylor, CEO of Untold Content
GUIDES
EVENT RECAPS
OTHER GREAT READS
- Entrepreneurs After Hours: The Bourbon Society of Greater Cincinnati
- Entrepreneurs After Hours: Mid-Century Modern Rescue
- Haunted Cincy: A Q&A with Judy Knuckles, Paranormal Researcher
- Someone in the Subbasement
- 11 Travel and Hospitality Startups to Watch in 11 Cities — American Inno Staff
- 11 Blockchain Startups to Watch in 11 Cities — American Inno Staff
- The Biggest Tech Stories from 2018 in Every American Inno Market — American Inno Staff
