As Cincinnati grows as a startup hub, Main Street Ventures is laser-focused on making entrepreneurial opportunities accessible to everyone — and a recent $500,000 grant from The Harold C. Schott Foundation is helping the Over-the-Rhine-based organization amplify its reach.
Main Street Ventures launched in 1999 to provide tech entrepreneurs with a free workplace and WiFi on Main Street in OTR. The founders went on to launch The Brandery, a well-known seed-stage accelerator, before shifting gears to focus on supporting emerging businesses that create jobs and strengthen the entrepreneurial ecosystem in Cincinnati. This purpose remains Main Street Ventures’ mission to this day, and it’s in large part why the group won The Harold C. Schott Foundation grant in November.
“As we talked with them, we highlighted the value of investing in entrepreneurial ecosystem building as a proven tool to tackle community challenges,” said Pete Brown, executive director of Main Street Ventures. “When entrepreneurship is accessible to everyone, it becomes a powerful force to address poverty, racial and gender inequality, and so many other societal issues.”
Main Street Ventures supports local entrepreneurs through two types of programs: leap grants and ecosystem building grants. Leap grants of $10,000 to $30,000 are awarded to emerging businesses poised to create jobs within the region. Ecosystem building grants support organizations and events dedicated to strengthening the region’s entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“When entrepreneurship is accessible to everyone, it becomes a powerful force to address poverty, racial and gender inequality, and so many other societal issues.”
The Harold C. Schott Foundation’s $500,000 grant will help Main Street Ventures expand its impact across grant programming and ecosystem building over the next three years. And, with Main Street Ventures’ matching dollars from the Ohio Third Frontier Fund, this donation will be amplified through state funding. This is exactly where Main Street Ventures hoped to be as they strategize growth for next year.
“We’re looking to raise another $1 million over the next several months,” Brown said. “This is a strong foundation from which to build.”
The Main Street Ventures team consists of movers and shakers from the startup, business, and nonprofit sectors. The full-time team, based in Union Hall’s The Brandery offices, consists of Brown and program associate Brianna Dzuricsko. Main Street Ventures’ board is also thoroughly involved in the grant advisory committee and overall strategy, Brown said.
While Brown grew up on the East Coast, he was recruited to Cincinnati in 2011 by Western & Southern Financial Group. He most recently led digital strategy for the group before making his way to Main Street Ventures. After more than eight years watching Cincinnati evolve as an entrepreneurial hub, he can’t imagine life — or work — anywhere else.
“Cincinnati is my home and I want to be involved in the transformation that is taking place here,” he said. “Everything that you need to start a business is here and accessible. If we keep building partnerships and addressing gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem, there is no limit to the region’s potential.”
