An unusual public offering, emergence from stealth mode, an FDA approval and several funding rounds were among developments for the 10 Central Ohio tech companies we deemed potential newsmakers for 2023.
Developments already are coming for this year.
As Columbus Inno releases the third cohort of Startups to Watch for 2024, here's an update on the class of '23:
ReAlpha Tech Corp.: The first Columbus Startup to Watch to go public, the company alone made at least 10 headlines for the year, and we're already working on a new roundup.
The Dublin company plans to use machine-learning software to help select neighborhoods and properties for the company to buy and list as short-term rentals. It started trading on the Nasdaq in October under the symbol AIRE. The direct listing skipped a more costly IPO, and allowed early investors to sell shares without proceeds to the company.
Priced at $10 in earlier private transactions, the stock opened at $23 its first day, soared as high as $575 and closed at $407. Since mid-December shares have hovered around $2.
Since the listing, ReAlpha has raised another $8 million in a private placement, according to a release, and acquired two software makers, one in Nepal and another nearby in Dublin.
ReAlpha started the year raising $9 million in a direct offering dubbed a "mini-IPO," then sued the law firm hired for that offering because of regulatory tangles with states. The firm countersued, saying the startup rejected its advice and didn't pay its bill. The case is pending.
In March, ReAlpha acquired Rhove, a Columbus property tech company that was a 2022 Startup to Watch, and adopted its technology and legal structure for syndicating properties for groups of investors.
Right before that deal, ReAlpha launched its own fractional ownership campaign for investing in a slice of an Orlando-area Airbnb property. The campaign was canceled after not raising the minimum. ReAlpha abandoned that kind of direct listing strategy in favor of Rhove's platform, and in October sold the house itself, according to regulatory filings.
Dasi Simulations: The Ohio State University spinoff won U.S. Food & Drug Administration approval in June for its AI software for 3D modeling to plan heart valve replacement surgery, replacing a hand-drawn 2D process that can lead to improper fit and complications. The office moved to the Short North from Dublin. As of Jan. 1 the software was awarded its own federal Medicare reimbursement code, eliminating sales barriers because hospitals can get back nearly $1,000 of the undisclosed list price per procedure.
Koloma Inc.: Win some, lose some. The OSU spinoff came out of stealth mode in July, confirming Inno's earlier reporting based on regulatory filings that it had raised a cumulative $91 million in venture capital – from green energy funds including Bill Gates-backed Breakthrough Energy Ventures. One of those filings for the final $30 million came in June. Koloma's technology helps find geologic deposits of hydrogen that can be extracted "in a clean, continuous and cost-effective manner," its website says, which could be a game-changer for decarbonization. But now it's less of a Central Ohio story: While Koloma maintains a laboratory and several employees in Columbus, the HQ has moved to Denver.
SureImpact Inc.: The Liberty Township startup raised $2 million in May to expand the market for its software seeking to transform philanthropy by demonstrating which interventions actually work. We're working on a bigger update, but over the year the startup grew by one-third and kicks off 2024 with a distribution deal through a tech giant.
IncludeHealth Inc.: The Dublin startup raised $11 million in February toward development and sales of its telehealth software for physical therapy and other musculoskeletal care. At the same time Central Ohio serial entrepreneur Ray Shealy joined as COO, shortly after leading a second health IT company to acquisition. In July IncludeHealth won a $1.5 million, 18-month contract for its software to help prevent musculoskeletal injuries in the U.S. Air Force, and was selected for an AI accelerator in Silicon Valley.
LiveEasy: On the watchable list as MoveEasy in January, the Grandview Heights company renamed itself in June to reflect the larger audience and scope of its growing platform of concierge services for utilities and home maintenance – well beyond what started as software to make moving easier (relocating utilities and such). With the rebrand LiveEasy also expanded to add services for renters as well as homeowners, and released easier ways for outside companies to adopt individual tools and widgets from the software, such as insurance quotes. In August the company was named the fastest-growing of 44 Central Ohio companies on this year's Inc. 5000 list: 13-fold revenue growth from 2019 to 2022.
Clarametyx Biosciences Inc.: Keep watching this year. The Nationwide Children’s Hospital spinoff, developing an antibody treatment for antibiotic-resistant infections, in June announced “positive” initial safety data in an early-stage clinical trial in healthy volunteers. The study is expected to conclude this February, according to the federal website tracking clinical trials. The company has said it aims to start the second phase this year. Existing investors Rev1 Ventures and Ohio Innovation Fund each flagged the startup as primed for continued progress in 2024. The antibody treatment attacks a key structural protein – unique to bacteria, but universal among their many species – to collapse protective "biofilms" bacteria form around their masses. Without the film, antibiotics and the immune system can work.
EFuse Inc.: Based in the Short North, the company works with large game-makers including Activision and social media influencers to run online gaming tournaments such as an all-women Fortnite tournament. It runs "SupermarketShowdown" for Cincinnati's Kroger Co., according to a LinkedIn post updating its fourth quarter. In early September, eFuse announced the launch of a Creator League with online celebrities including top YouTuber MrBeast – but suspended it three days later after fan backlash over underlying technology using blockchain as the ledger for recording sales of passes, according to a news release and gaming industry media reports.
RWX: The latest startup from Dan Manges, the founding CTO of Root Inc., is building software to cut out the inefficiencies that bog down engineering teams as they grow and the tech stack they're building gets larger and more complex. "Building dev tools is like selling shovels and pickaxes in a gold rush." Manges said in January. According to LinkedIn updates, RWX this year released a platform for "continuous integration," which is an easier way for several developers to see live updates to a joint software project.
Synota Inc.: The Powell startup continued building its tech enabling real-time bitcoin payments, using the Lightning Network, to cut out administrative costs in the energy industry. Co-founders spoke at industry conferences and appeared on podcasts, according to the website and LinkedIn updates.
And from the Class of 2021
The year also brought the first complete shutdown of a Startup to Watch, from the inaugural 2021 class. Uleet Inc. quietly wound down operations in mid-October. It had started on an insurance model, then pivoted to a wellness marketplace – both aimed at incentivizing healthy behavior. But in 2023's constricted funding environment, the startup could not raise enough funds even though it made revenue. One attempt at fundraising started right before the March collapse of Silicon Valley Bank.
But the entrepreneurial spirit remains.
“It’s a taste, that I want more. I want to do it again,” co-founder and CEO Alex Husted said in November. “I don’t know what it’s going to be yet."
