A profile about the rise in non-coastal investing reaps praise on the Greater Cincinnati's pool of entrepreneurs.
It all starts with Steve Case, a billionaire tech pioneer best known as the founder of AOL. In 2014, Case launched a venture capital fund dubbed Rise of the Rest to focus exclusively on investing in startups not located on either the East or West Coasts. His theory was that the cities in between contained just as much talent and innovative energy but at a fraction of the cost.
A recently published profile by Inc. Magazine explains why Case's theory has proven true and how others are taking note as well. And one of the crutches of the article is the strength and tenacity of Greater Cincinnati's own entrepreneurial community.
Here are some highlights from the Cincinnati-focused section of the article:
- One strength of the Cincinnati community is how the city's corporate giants, such as Procter & Gamble and Kroger, invest back into smaller companies, leveraging their size to boost others, including minority-led startups. Inc. highlights both companies increased relationship with Over-the-Rhine's Mortar as a primary example.
- Piggybacking off corporate power, the article praises the city of Mason for leveraging the region's pool of corporate talent to create new companies. "These big companies spit out smart people who become entrepreneurs," Michele Blair, Mason's economic development boss, told Inc. "A lot of the time, big companies just don't know how to do it."
- The article also highlights Mason-based medical device startup Genetesis for its ability to attract "risk capital" to the Midwest, namely famed investor Mark Cuban.
- And finally, the article praises Mason and CincyTech for establishing a tech corridor along Interstate 71, creating an ecosystem for startups within the region.
To read the full article, click here.
