businesstraverse.com Live is excited to announce a special event around Columbus, Ohio. On June 1, 2022, our crew will host an extended businesstraverse.com Live episode featuring Columbus investors, founders, and business leaders. There’s even a pitch-off, and we’re looking for startups in the Columbus area to apply and pitch.
Register for the virtual event hereand request the pitch-off here.
Why Columbus? Because it’s quickly becoming a big startup scene in the Midwest, especially in the healthcare and insurance fields. More than $3 billion has been injected into the city over the past 20 years, according to Crunchbase data. Investment in the city’s start-ups started to pick up around 2017 and really peaked in 2021. Then investment essentially doubled, from $583 million in 2020 to just over $1 billion, with half of that dollars went to two companies: healthcare technology company Olive and autonomous robotics company Path Robotics. To date, $110 million has been invested in Columbus startups in 2022.
Now valued at over $4 billion, Olive is one of Columbus’s other success stories, such as CoverMyMeds, a healthcare software company that was acquired by McKesson Corp. in 2017. was acquired for $1.4 billion, representing Central Ohio’s first $1 billion exit. Root Insurance, which raised more than $800 million since 2015, went public in 2020. Other notable raises include Forge Biologics’ $120 million Series B round, which has been considered Ohio’s largest Series B round to date. Forge plans to add 200 new jobs by 2023.
We hope you can attend this event! Like any businesstraverse.com Live event, it’s free to join and attend. And like any businesstraverse.com Live event, it kicks off at 3:00 PM EDT/12:00 PM PDT, and will take place on June 1, 2022.
Sign up for the pitch-off! To be eligible you must:
- Be located in the greater Columbus, Ohio area.
- Have an MVP.
- Be pre-Series A.
businesstraverse.com Live in Columbus!
Columbus Unicorns with Olive and Drive Capital (3:00 PM EDT)
Olive is a homegrown unicorn from Columbus; hear from the CEO and lead investor how the company has built and raised $856 million since its founding in 2012.
Raising seed capital (3:30 PM EDT)
Ohio is not Silicon Valley, and yet there are countless venture capital funds that like to write checks to fledgling founders. Join this session and hear from two investors which industries are doing well in Columbus, and what kind of founders are the best fit for this scene.
Working for a startup in Columbus (4:00 PM EDT)
Columbus, like many major American cities, is home to industrial giants with hundreds of workers toiling in cubicles. But startups hire people! Hear from two local leaders who’s hiring and what startups are looking for.
Pitch Competition (4:20 PM EDT)
Add here!
judges
Found live with Claire Coder, CEO of Aunt Flow (5:00 PM EDT)
Aunt Flow is an innovative startup from Columbus, Ohio that supplies 23,000 bathrooms with essential feminine products. The company’s customers include Apple, Meta, and more. Hear from company CEO Claire Coder about the pain of raising capital in Ohio and scaling her company to 40 employees during this special Found Live podcast recording.
