Photo Credit: Thomas Barwick, Getty Images
Thomas M. Barwick
As Q1 wraps up, we bid farewell to the last three months of Cincy innovation with our Queen City Quarterly Report, a roundup of the fundings, deals, mergers and acquisitions to go down in the region in the quarter. (Catch up on other Quarterly Reports you may have missed here.)
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January
- CEI Vision Partners, a management services organization formed last year by Cincinnati Eye Institute and a private equity firm, made its fourth acquisition since October, purchasing the Norfolk, Va.-based Virginia Eye Consultants (a surgical practice), the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Austin, Texas-based CSA Service Solutions LLC acquired Wilmington-based Equipment Management Service and Repair Inc., the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- 2013 Brandery graduate Frameri’s patented technology was on the auction block, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The news comes a year after the eyewear company closed in 2018 after troubles raising funds. Heritage Global Partners will keep the tech on auction through Feb. 21.
- Indoor farming startup 80 Acres Farms has received a “significant” investment from San Francisco-based Virgo, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The funds will assist the startup establish two “growing facilities” in Hamilton, the report adds.
- Blue Ash-based Vora Ventures has acquired Cincinnati-based digital commerce company Hinge, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Florence-based Legion Logistics, a third-party logistics brokerage that’s considered one of the region’s fastest-growing companies, acquired Dandridge, Tenn.-based Qontinuity Enterprises, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- Kroger Co. announced that it will raise $1.2 billion in debt later in January, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. It will use the planned two series of notes to refinance long-term debt it already has, as well as for “general corporate purposes.”
- Earlier this week, sweat sensor tech company Eccrine Systems announced that it will expand its in-city R&D capabilities — a move that will “accelerate development of Eccrine’s sweat sensor platform,” the company told Cincy Inno in a press release. That means that the 50-employee company will add another 50 workers to its force over the next three years. This is the second time Eccrine’s been in the news of late; in late December, the company received a “key patent” on its tech.
February
- Yelitsa Jean-Charles, founder of Healthy Roots Dolls, was named the winner of the first-ever Wendy S. Lea Female Founders grant. That’s worth $25,000! Read more on the grant here and on Healthy Roots Dolls here.
- Medical device maker AtriCure has announced a $15 million expansion and the intention to create 100 new jobs — and as such, the Mason City Council has voted to provide $3.6 million in incentives, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Also a part of this process? The purchase of five acres next to AtriCure’s HQ.
- Los Angeles will be the home of a new, Procter & Gamble Co. and M13-led business incubator, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Dubbed the “Build Studio,” the incubator will work with brands that can then “be folded back into P&G,” the report states. As for timeline, P&G will begin the project within “the next four to eight weeks.”
- Norwood-based health care staffing firm Health Carousel acquired Denver and Dallas-based Onyx M.D., the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The acquisition closed Feb. 15. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.
- According Federal Reserve Bank of Cleveland President and CEO Loretta Mester, Greater Cincy’s economy is one of the strongest in the region, “and it’s been that way for a while,” she said in a Cincinnati Business Courier report. The reason for its such prolonged success in the Fourth District, which includes Western Pennsylvania, Eastern Kentucky, Ohio and the Virginia panhandle? Cincy’s exceptional population growth, as compared to others in the region.
- Cincinnati-based asset holding company Green Light Acquisitions acquired a new controlling interest, and in Brighton, Colo.,-based Advanced Extraction, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. “The $7.5 million deal for ensures a supply of high-grade CBD, which is derived from hemp and has medicinal qualities,” the report states.
- The Cincinnati USA Regional Chamber and the CIO Roundtablehave launched Apprenti Cincinnati, a 12-to-15-week project that looks to train tech talent and ultimately connect workers with area employers, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The program was first created in Seattle in 2016 by Washington Technology Industry Association, and its Cincy iteration is funded with $1.2 million from JPMorgan Chase.
- GE Aviation received a more than $500 million contract from the Army’s Improved Turbine Engine Program, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The company will manufacture jet engines, which will they’ll build at GE Aviation’s Lynn, Mass.-based location.
March
- Pending approval, Marianne Lewis will join the University of Cincinnati Carl H. Lindner College of Business as its first female dean in July, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. She will make her transition from City, University of London’s Cass Business School, where Lewis is currently a professor of management and a dean. Calling the appointment an honor, she added: “As part of an urban university, the college has a tremendous responsibility to educate our future business leaders in ways that advance the entire Cincinnati region and our global society.”
- The BioEnterprise Midwest Healthcare Growth Capital Report named a host of Cincinnati-based health care startups as among the most invested-in entities in the Midwest. Coming in first on the list was Enable Injections (it raised more than $40 million), followed by Blue Ash-based Standard Bariatrics (it raised $19.96 million), the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Eccrine Systems, IncludeHealth and Airway Therapeutics also made the list.
- Economic development agency HCDC hit a new milestone, setting a record for loans to small businesses in 2018, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Just how much is this record number? $33.1 million via the U.S. Small Business Administration to a total of 41 different programs. The report adds that the loans brought in around $100 million in investment, as well as the creation/retention of 383 jobs. Whoa.
- Heard of Amify? It’s a D.C.-based startup that helps smaller companies sell their wares on Amazon, and it’s coming to Cincy, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The company aims to utilize Amazon’s forthcoming air hub, the report states, adding that Amify already has some Cincy ties. It’s $5.8 million Series A round was led by Mercury Fund, a Houston-based entity that is “a longtime participant in the Cincinnati startup ecosystem,” with additionally participation by CincyTech. As for coming to Cincy, CEO Ethan McAffee said: “Much like Amazon, we were looking for a second headquarters and Cincinnati kept popping up. Cincinnati’s a great branding and marketing town, and that’s something we need to help our brands.”
- From one Queen City to another: Wunderfund.co, a Cincinnati-based startup that allows “everyday” users to invest in their favorite startups, has announced that it will participate in Charlotte, N.C.-based Queen City Fintech’s tenth cohort. The 12-week accelerator, which is a part of the Carolina Fintech Hub and boasts the sponsorship of a host of major banks like Fifth Third and Wells Fargo, kicks off March 25. It boasts a mentor network of 300 and invests about $40,000 per company, with opportunities for follow-on funding for top performers, its website states. Portfolio companies include Curu and ImpactCents. During Wunderfund.co’s time in the accelerator, its team said its goal was to “[work] with the banks to power commercial fundraises.”
- Boston’s DentaQuest LLC acquired the Dental Care Plus Group of Sharonville for $41.5 million, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. The deal includes Dental Care Plus Groupand DCP Holding Co., which will functioned as “wholly owned subsidiaries,” the report adds. DCPG will remain in Sharonville.
- The Carl H. Lindner College of Business at the University of Cincinnati announced a new economics institute that will open in the fall, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Dubbed the Kautz-Uible Economics Institute, the entity “will offer additional resources to students, faculty and the community including a research initiative, an international scholars program and enhancements to the Women in Economics program,” the report states.
- Speaking of UC, CincyTech debuted its new office in its 1819 Innovation Hub. Want to check out pictures of the space? Check out this slideshow here.
- CincyTech isn’t the only company on the move; Wine Society, which was founded by Angela Allison and her husband/Dotloop co-founderAustin Allison, announced that it will move its headquarters to Cincinnati in April.
- Procter & Gamble Co. has announced an intention to invest more than $8.8M in three Singapore born-and-bred businesses, the Cincinnati Business Courier reports. Around $5.9 million of said investment will go toward a GrowthWorks seed fund, marking P&G’s “largest commitment toward its GrowthWorks program outside the United States.” It’s always cool to see big players within the Cincinnati ecosystem making such a splash on a global scale.
