Nine Cincinnati small businesses, ranging from a small-batch bakery to an upstart popup restaurant specializing in handmade pasta, have received equity-free funding from Over-the-Rhine’s Main Street Ventures as the nonprofit doled out its latest round of grants.
Main Street Ventures, an entrepreneur support organization, awarded $200,000 in the form of its signature Launch and Leap grants, announced quarterly throughout the year. The money will help recipients expand to new markets, add product lines and build emerging tech, Main Street Ventures said.
Launch funding is designed for emerging, pre-revenue businesses at the prototype or product stage and aims to help increase the odds of reaching the market-entry point and beyond. While Main Street Ventures doesn’t disclose exact grant amounts, funding ranges from $5,000 to $10,000.
Leap funding, meanwhile, is dedicated to revenue-generating businesses to scale impact and increase their odds of survival. The grants are between $10,000 and $30,000.
With its most recent round of grants, Main Street Ventures has distributed more than $1 million in equity-free funding to small businesses in the region in 2022.
Other key recipients last year included Black Owned, a fashion line led by Means Cameron; Mom ‘n ‘Em, a coffee shop with locations in Camp Washington and Madisonville; and Nettie Pickleball Co., a Don Draper-inspired pickleball line that includes paddles and gear.
“The influx of new ideas we have seen continues to showcase the Cincinnati region is an amazing place to build companies,” Brianna Dzuricsko, Main Street Ventures executive Lead, said in a release.
The companies receiving Launch grants include:
- Covington-based Down the Road Spice Co. offers a line of small-batch, organic masalas that make it easier to cook Indian food.
- London's Hair Food, a handcrafted hair care line founded in January 2021, focuses on textured hair, with a range of products that include oil treatments, deep conditioners, beard butter, scalp scrubs and more.
- Oopda Health is a health care bill management solution to simplify the patient payment experience.
The companies receiving Leap grants include:
- Beeyond Bars, a brand founded by sisters Andrea and Angelina Papanikolaou, includes a line of five-ingredient energy bars. Its products are available online, on Amazon and at Whole Foods locations throughout Ohio, among other stores.
- Cackleberry, launched in 2019, serves up craft breakfast sandwiches via a food trailer that pops up in various locations throughout the Cincinnati area.
- SKT Ceramics, a porcelain pottery studio based in the Century Theater building Walnut Hills, supports a team of local artists who hand-craft tableware dipped in glazes and adorned with original illustrations.
- That’s So Sweet sells small-batch, handmade cookies, brownies and bars. The company, rebranded late last year by local entrepreneur Nancy Aichholz, combines Montgomery-based Donna’s Gourmet Cookies and NanCakes, Aichholz’s once dormant carrot cake-focused line.
- Tutor Teens is a free, virtual, technology-centered peer-tutoring solution. Tutor Teens was launched at the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic by Erin Finn, now a senior at Seven Hills School, and her brother, Aidan Finn, a recent St. Xavier High School graduate. It matches tutors in grades 8-12 with students in grades K-12.
- Wildweed offers a seasonally inspired menu with a heavy focus on handmade pasta. Wildweed currently holds popups at Mighty Good, a Southern-style "meat and three" restaurant located adjacent to Findlay Market in Over-the-Rhine.
Main Street Ventures provides capital and education for entrepreneurs, with a heavy focus on women and minority founders.
In terms of impact, 77% of Main Street grant recipients are considered underrepresented. More than 267 local jobs have been created by grant recipient companies, while 92% are still in operation with more than $8.5 million raised in follow-on funding.
