Startups from the University of Cincinnati and Miami University are among the winners of Main Street Ventures’ 2024 Launch It: Cincy program.
The nonprofit's pitch competition is designed exclusively for founders who are currently undergraduate students in the Greater Cincinnati region. Last month, five finalist student teams pitched their companies to a panel of judges, which included Kara Willis from the Mercantile Library, Lindsay Stricker from Kao USA Inc., Paycor's Tim Ruge and Patrick Dingeldein from PNC.
This year’s winners include PhizzIO, Silux and the Recipe Book.
PhizzIO was founded by UC students Aniruddhan Ramesh and Joe Kuncheria Panjikaran. The business-to-business platform provides software services to physiotherapy centers to enhance treatment quality and patient experience.
Silux is a flexible jewelry startup created by Miami student Tatem Lindner. The company crafts luxury silicone rings for women who cannot wear metal rings due to health problems, weight fluctuations and/or workplace safety issues.
The third winner, the Recipe Book, is an app that focuses on homestyle cooking. It was launched by University of Dayton student Alayah Harris.
Each team is awarded a prize package valued at more than $28,000. According to MSV’s website, the prize supports the winning teams’ ability to stay in Cincinnati over the summer, build relationships and focus on building their business.
The program runs from June to July this year. It includes housing, living expenses, office space, connections with other students working in Cincinnati, curriculum, mentoring, attorney hours and financial support.
“We are inspired and energized by the innovation and talent we have seen from student entrepreneurs in our region,” Sean Parker, executive director of MSV, said in a news release. “The future of our startup community is dependent upon the great ideas and business savvy coming out of the next generation of entrepreneurs.”
Launch It: Cincy got its start in 2021. The program’s goal is to help participants make the transition from students to business owners. Last year’s winners included Miami University’s VaLanDria Smith-Lash, founder of Coarse Culture, who was featured as a Cincy Inno Five Under 25 honoree in 2023; and UC’s Camryn Ellis, founder of RYN, a mobile styling app. RYN was featured as a Cincy Inno Startup to Watch in 2024.
Main Street Ventures was founded in 1999. Since 2018, it has awarded $3.5 million in equity-free funding in the form of grants to 164 companies. In addition to grant funding, recipients receive programming support in the form of workshops, advising and access to business development resources.
