JumpStart is creating economic transformation in Northeast Ohio by providing resources to entrepreneurs to grow their high potential, early stage companies.
There are three ways in which we do this:
First, JumpStart provides intensive entrepreneurial development assistance to entrepreneurs leading high potential, early-stage companies. Those services are delivered by former successful entrepreneurs (called Venture Partners and Entrepreneurs-in-Residence) who work one-on-one with entrepreneurs to establish and achieve value-creating milestones of growth, such as raising capital, generating revenues, testing the commercial viability of their product or service, and moving the product or service into the market. The assistance is provided through two programs, each of which offers assistance in ways that meet the varying needs of the entrepreneurs they serve.
- JumpStart Ventures invests in, partners with, and prepares innovative, early-stage companies for exponential growth. Specifically, JumpStart Ventures works with high potential entrepreneurs and their innovative, early-stage companies that have the potential to generate $30 to $50 million in revenues in five to seven years and create hundreds or thousands of globally-competitive jobs.
- JumpStart Inclusion Advisors guides high impact minority and women entrepreneurs seeking to raise capital from private investors in order to grow their companies into larger scale national and international firms. It also works with entrepreneurs leading high impact companies located in the urban centers of Northeast Ohio.
Second, JumpStart acts as a champion for entrepreneurs and entrepreneurial economic development. JumpStart aggressively advocates for the entrepreneurial economy to secure a continuous stream of resources for entrepreneurs, engaging and acting with federal, state, and community policy makers, civic leaders, and leaders in the venture capital and angel investing communities. Often the resources go to the entrepreneurs directly or are deployed by other non-profit economic development organizations or investors. Examples of this work would include:
- Leading the creation of North Coast Angel Fund, Northeast Ohio’s first managed angel fund which has invested in over 17 companies.
- Leading the Venture Capital Advisory Task Force to further entrepreneurial investment and success in the region.
- Securing over $18 million for the region’s entrepreneurs through successful funding proposals to Ohio Third Frontier.
And finally, JumpStart focuses on economic inclusion and activities that increase the success of minority and women entrepreneurs in growing high impact companies. This work is important to us and runs across every service we offer, as growing larger scale diverse businesses is an essential part of our economic transformation strategy. Examples of this work include:
- Focusing on outreach to minority and women entrepreneurs, which has led to 30 percent of the companies in the JumpStart Ventures portfolio being founded or led by these entrepreneurs.
- Providing intense support for minority and women entrepreneurs, as well as those located in urban centers.
- Partnering with national leaders in economic inclusion, such as The Marathon Club and The Initiative for a Competitive Inner City to put on an annual national conference that focuses on increasing the pipeline of investment in minority and women-owned and inner-city companies.
- Collaborating with the state and federal governments to pilot new initiatives, such as Launch100, which is creating a pipeline of 100 high potential minority and inner-city based companies throughout the state of Ohio.
Learn more about who we are.