A legacy Cincinnati accelerator that blends faith and entrepreneurship is launching its newest class this month, and the companies hail from multiple locales outside Ohio, including New York City, Singapore, Silicon Valley and more.
Ocean Accelerator, founded in 2014 and one of the region’s longest-running startup programs, recently unveiled its ninth cohort ahead of its May 15 kickoff.
Eight companies were selected from an international pool of applicants. The accelerator is a 17-week program that works to help founders build venture-backable companies.
Ocean provides seed funding – each company receives a $50,000 investment – mentorship, education and professional services.
Along with traditional accelerator elements, Ocean also invites founders to integrate their faith, purpose, relationships and health into their startup journey. Ocean was launched in 2014 by three members of Crossroads Church, though it now operates separately.
While none of the companies are based in Cincinnati and only one has roots in the Midwest, the program still highlights the StartupCincy ecosystem, Ocean's team said. A number of partners – which include Carta; Over-the-Rhine-based Cintrifuse; downtown startup Cloverleaf; faith-based crowdfunding platform EquityVest; Louisville’s Forecastr; attorneys with Frost Brown Todd; Miami University; Soul Care; Tensure Consulting; and Thirty21, a Cincinnati creative marketing agency – are local.
“Ocean is continuing to attract entrepreneurs to the region,” Christy Johnson, the organization’s chief operating officer, said in a news release. “We look forward to showing off (Cincinnati) as a dynamic place for venture building.”
The companies in the cohort include:
- Anonymous Agent, based in New York, N.Y., and led by Simon Hou and Minfa Wang. Anonymous Agent connects influencers to main street businesses.
- Integrate School, based in Upper Saddle River, N.J., and led by Maxwell Witt and Kevin Celisca. Integrate School makes transparency and collaboration easier for K-12 schools.
- LoCollab, based in Singapore, and led by Melissa Lo. LoCollab is a collaboration and networking platform for small businesses and solopreneurs.
- Magic Kids, based in New York, N.Y., and led by Toly Sherbakov and Marianna Alpatova. Magic Kids is a game-based learning app that aims to increase attention spans.
- OneKin, based in St. Louis and New York, and led by Marvin François and Jennifer Gomez. OneKin enables independent small businesses to sell online in real time.
- Scout, based in Saratoga Spring, N.Y., and led by Michael Haddix Jr. and Cindy Zeng. Scout is an investing platform for Gen Z.
- TinyChain, based in Austin, and led by Haydn Vestal. TinyChain is an app store for cloud services.
- Wiggl Health, based in Menlo Park, Calif., and led by Mason Orme. Wiggl Health is an employee wellness platform for next-gen workplaces.
Ocean said the cohort came together through strategic recruiting efforts and a national tour of Unpolished, a roadshow where founders gather to talk about the gritty, lonely parts of entrepreneurship.
Unpolished hit six cities in 2022 with plans to add 11 stops in 2023, including Chicago; Raleigh, N.C.; and Nashville, Tenn.
“From the beginning, founders across all tech verticals have sought out Ocean as a partner in their startup journey for both venture and personal growth,” Luke Dooley, president and CEO of Ocean Programs, said in the release. “Cohort nine is a group anchored in deep purpose, building on impressive experiences and launching ambitious ventures and who will make the most of our program.”
Ocean Accelerator focuses on investor-readiness, product development, go-to-market strategy, mitigating founder isolation and burnout and creating a healthy company culture.
The founders will gather together in startup hubs across the United States for three of the 17 weeks to participate in a welcome week, mid-program retreat in Colorado and demo day.
Welcome week kicks off locally May 15, and the program will wrap Sept. 6-9 with a pitch week in Cincinnati.
James Mathews and Hailey Hite will lead the program as managing director and program manager, respectively. Others on the team include mentors, speakers and advisers.
Since its founding, Ocean Accelerator has helped launch 62 high-tech businesses, and its alumni have gone on to be accepted into programs like Y Combinator, Gener8tor, Techstars and Praxis.
Its portfolio collectively represents $1 billion in market capitalization and has raised more than $200 million in subsequent financing from regional funds like Connetic, Serra Ventures, Drive Capital and 11 Tribes Ventures as well as leading national investors like 11:11 Media, NEA and Sovereign’s Capital.
Ocean has celebrated three exits to date, including two locally: Atlanta’s Sawa, acquired by Mailchimp in 2019; Cincinnati’s StreamSpot, acquired by Subsplash in 2020; and Martin, a local digital marketing consultancy, acquired in September 2022 by PubMatic in a $45 million deal.
Three other alumni – Cloverleaf, Bosa, and GetTogether (now SchedulerAI) –- were named “Startups to Watch” in 2023 in Cincinnati.
