Cleveland Plus region benefits from $13.7 million award in Third Frontier grants, more than any other region in Ohio

Friday, June 05, 2009

COLUMBUS — Four organizations in the Cleveland Plus region entities have received $13.7 million in Third Frontier grants, more than any other region in Ohio. The awards were included in the announcement about nearly $8 million in grants through the Ohio Third Frontier Success and Pre-Seed Fund Initiative to seven Ohio early-stage capital and entrepreneurial assistance organizations.

Governor Ted Strickland, Eric Fingerhut, chancellor of the Ohio Board of Regents and chair of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, and Lisa Patt-McDaniel, interim director of the Ohio Department of Development and Commission member, made the announcement about the Success and Pre-Seed Fund Initiative, which supports existing and new regionally based organizations that provide critical pre-seed capital and associated business assistance to nurture the growth of early-stage technology-based companies.

Northeast Ohio recipients are:

  • BioEnterprise, which was awarded $600,000 for its Accelerating Biomedical Start-ups in Northeast Ohio Fund III project. The effort will allow continuance of Entrepreneurial Assistance programs for emerging biomedical companies in Northeast Ohio. BioEnterprise will support its existing and new clients at the Imaging, Incubating, or Demonstrating phases of development.
  • JumpStart, Inc., which received $2 million for its Existing Pre-Seed Fund project, which will enable the organization to continue to set the stage for the creation of high-paying jobs by investing in innovative imagining and incubation stage high-tech, potentially venture-ready companies that will help to accelerate the growth of the Northeast Ohio economy. Jumpstart was also awarded funding totaling $575,000 for its Entrepreneurial Assistance Organization Success Fund 2009, which will continue to provide the highest standard of entrepreneurial innovation and leadership with its nationally recognized best practices, services, and national network of deal flow contacts.
  • Cleveland Clinic, which was awarded $800,000 for its BioValidation Fund II project, which will build on the Ohio BioValidation Fund I and leverage the Clinic’s highly integrated system of scientific research, clinical care, innovation, investment, and commercial application.
  • Lorain County Community College, which received $1.5 million for its Innovation Fund project. Funding for this project will help meet the funding gap for pre-seed support in the Northeast Ohio region, fill the investment pipeline with strong technology-based businesses to make the region an attractive place for angel and venture capital investors, and accelerate opportunities by connecting them to regional and state economic development and educational resources.

Other recipients were Ohio Tech Angels for continued funding to help promising technology companies and TechColumbus to provide pre-seed capital to late imagining, incubating, and early demonstrating phase technology-based start-ups in the 15-county Central Ohio region.

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