JumpStart Inc., the venture development and capital organization in Cleveland, won approval on Tuesday for a two-year Ohio Third Frontier grant of $39 million to help Northern Ohio entrepreneurs get their ideas into the marketplace.
The Ohio Third Frontier Commission approved a total of $82.3 million in grants to six regional Entrepreneurial Services Provider (ESP) programs, including JumpStart, the Ohio Department of Development said in a statement.
JumpStart's Northeast Ohio operations, based in Cleveland, won a grant for $33.8 million, and the organizations' Northwest Ohio operation, based in Toledo, won a grant for $5.1 million, the development department said.
JumpStart's collaborators in Northeast Ohio are:
- Bounce Innovation Hub in Akron.
- Braintree in Mansfield.
- BRITE Energy Innovators in Warren.
- Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland.
- Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise (GLIDE) in Elyria.
- Manufacturing Advocacy and Growth Network (MAGNET) in Cleveland.
- Northeast Ohio Medical University in Rootstown.
- Ohio Aerospace Institute in Brook Park.
- University of Akron Research Foundation in Akron.
- Youngstown Business Incubator in Youngstown.
"By supporting our entrepreneurs and their innovative ideas, we are strengthening Ohio's economy," said Lydia Mihalik, director of the Ohio Department of Development and chair of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission.
The commission also awarded $850,000 in technology validation and start-up fund awards on Tuesday, including $100,000 to MIC Monitor LLC in Cleveland to help the company develop and commercialize an electrochemical test kit for corrosion.
The Ohio Third Frontier Technology Validation and Start-up Fund helps Ohio companies license institution-owned technologies to accelerate commercialization.
