It was a busy year for Cincinnati's tech community, with high-profile announcements, a huge exit and the collapse of a startup whose demise will likely impact the upcoming year as well.
Here's a countdown of the 10 Cincy Inno stories our readers couldn't get enough of, starting off with the growth of a company aiming to transform how we work:
10 – Surging tech company to add 125 high-paying jobs in Blue Ash
In January, Blue Ash-based Cerkl announced plans to quadruple its employees, landing a nearly 1.8%, eight-year job creation tax credit from the Ohio Tax Credit Authority for the creation of $9.5 million in new annual payroll as a result of the company’s planned expansion project in Blue Ash. The estimated value of the tax credit is $1.26 million.
Cerkl's technology provides a customized approach to employee and corporate communications plans. The firm has surged in recent years, thanks in part to the coronavirus pandemic.
9 – Blue Water Vaccines shares plummet 80% weeks after $20M IPO
CincyTech-backed Blue Water Vaccines made a splash this year when it debuted on the Nasdaq, but the company's stock hit a stumbling block shortly after and it's never recovered. Currently, Blue Water's stock is trading at roughly $1 per share.
Blue Water, formed in 2018 by CEO Joseph Hernandez, is developing several vaccine candidates, including one for influenza, a single-dose vaccine that would provide lifelong protection against all flu strains. Its initial technology was licensed from the University of Oxford.
8 – Arrived Homes, a Jeff Bezos-backed real estate company, enters Cincinnati
Arrived Homes, a real estate investing platform that is backed by Amazon.com founder Jeff Bezos, purchased two homes in the region this summer.
Founded in 2019, Arrived lets people invest in rental properties with the goal of making passive income through quarterly returns.
7 – Growing tech company moves headquarters to Blue Ash
CoStrategix's New Blue Ash Office
In January, tech firm CoStrategix announced it was moving from Sycamore Township to a 10,000-square-foot office at 4450 Carver Woods Road in Blue Ash. The larger space would allow the firm to expand its workforce by 30% to 40% this year, officials said at the time. The company held a ribbon cutting ceremony for the new space on Nov. 18. Here's a peek inside.
CoStrategix is a digital and data solutions company that provides consulting, data and artificial intelligence, applications and platforms, and tech modernization services.
6 – Founder exits GE Aviation to launch Cincinnati’s newest data startup
Somesh Saxena left his job at GE Aviation, where he managed the company’s enterprise data program, in February, and weeks later secured $4 million in seed funding for a new venture, dubbed Pantomath.
Pantomath is a data startup that allows companies to instantly detect those operational challenges through automated real-time alerts, troubleshoot them with a single-view into the pipeline across several data verticals to identify the root-cause, and resolve the issue with the click of a button.
5 – Cincinnati hydration drink maker’s sales skyrocket
As the year began, St. Bernard-based Hoist, a hydration drink maker, was poised to explode, and it's done just that.
Its co-founders Kelly Heekin and Ben Schmidt started the year off with the goal of tripling their sales to $22 million. To do so, they've inked new partnerships and retail agreements to bring their Gatorade competitor to the masses.
4 – Promising local insurtech lays off 20% of team as tech layoffs hit Cincinnati
The tech industry was hit hard with layoffs nationwide, and Cincinnati wasn't immune. Coterie, a Blue Ash-based insurtech, laid off around 30 employees in June. The cuts represented roughly 20% of its workforce.
In an interview with Cincy Inno, CEO David McFarland said: “I think a lot of people are going to go through this. And it really hurts. We let go of some fantastic people, and we don't take that lightly. But if we opted to wait this out, and it didn’t get better, we were going to have to make a much harder decision affecting many more people farther out. And we’re building Coterie to be a long-term business, not just something we flip.”
3 – Standard Bariatrics, one of city's top-funded startups, sold in $300M deal
Standard Bariatrics, one of the region's best-funded startups, announced in August plans to sell to Teleflex Inc. (NYSE: TFX) for $300 million, including earnouts.
The medtech, which is developing devices for the surgical treatment of obesity, closed the deal in October. It stands among the region's three-largest exits ever.
2 – Rumby files for bankruptcy, Cincinnati Bengals among company's largest creditors
Rumby, which offers pickup and delivery services for laundry and dry-cleaning businesses, filed for bankruptcy just last week, estimating its assets between $0 and $50,000 and its debts between $1 million to $10 million.
The action follows an alleged securities fraud allegation made Nov. 30 by Over-the-Rhine-based venture capital firm Refinery Ventures, which is seeking to recoup a $3 million investment it made in Rumby in August. Rumby’s CEO Ben Cantey has since resigned amid the fallout, and the company’s more than 20 employees also have been terminated in recent weeks.
Now, the feds are looking to seize Cantey's $1.7 million Hyde Park home, which he allegedly purchased with investor funds.
1 – 80 Acres has announced its biggest farm yet, a $120M investment
Hamilton-based vertical farming startup 80 Acres announced in June plans to invest $120 million in Greater Atlanta. The new farm, 80 Acres' largest yet, was expected to create 150 new jobs, according to Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
80 Acres Farms CEO Mike Zelkind said at the time the farm will be ready to distribute to retailers by early 2023 – starting first with leafy greens, then expanding to other produce as needed, including herbs, microgreens, tomatoes, strawberries and blackberries.
The announcement came roughly six months after the startup revealed plans for a new $74 million farm in Boone County.
