8 Questions To Ask Yourself When Preparing For Fundraising
Starting your own business is challenging. No matter how unique your idea is, it’s unlikely to get off the ground without proper funding. Securing the necessary funding to start and sustain a business is one of the biggest hurdles that every aspiring entrepreneur faces. Within Northeast Ohio, there is a significant and growing number of
When It Comes to Startup Success, The Market Is King
Entrepreneurs and investors alike often haggle about which is the more important ingredient for startup success, the product or the team behind it. Is the idea the sun around which everything else orbits? Or, are there truly rock star personalities out there who can turn even mediocre ideas into strong startups? Almost everyone I’ve met
Identifying and Engaging the Right Investors
One of the most frequently asked questions members of JumpStart’s Services and Investing Team receives is about how to obtain funding. This question is understandable. Growing a technology-based business at scale requires capital. To address capital needs, entrepreneurs often look to pitch investors. The entrepreneurs who are the most successful in both obtaining and leveraging
VIDEO: Raising Capital in the Midst of COVID
The COVID-19 Pandemic has ground many businesses to a halt, but startups still need to raise capital regardless of the current economic uncertainty. In this recorded webinar, our panel of investors discusses how the venture world is reacting to current market conditions, examines how venture capital investors are evaluating new deals, walks through how deal
What We Are Doing to Help Companies Navigate COVID-19
Like many businesses, JumpStart has had to pivot quickly over the last month—both to protect the health and safety of our own team and to find new ways to help the entrepreneurs and small business owners who need support more than ever. Here are a few of the steps we’ve taken recently, along with a
Meet Our Newest Portfolio Company: MedPilot
In early February, Cleveland AI startup MedPilot announced it has raised $1.5M in its latest funding round, bringing its total capital raised to $3.6M. JumpStart provided funding for this latest round alongside Cleveland attorney Jon Pinney, North Coast Angel Fund, Valley Growth Ventures, Wavemaker Three-Sixty Health and Hudson River Capital. READ MORE ABOUT MEDPILOT’S LATEST
Meet Our Newest Portfolio Company: Axuall
On September 25, Cleveland startup Axuall closed a $3 million seed financing round. JumpStart led the round with an investment from our Evergreen Fund, and we were joined by large group of prominent investors including Zapis Capital Group, M25, North Coast Angel Fund, Kettledrum Ventures and Drummond Road Capital. Read more about Axuall’s seed round in Crain’s Cleveland Business We’re excited about Axuall because
For Startups, Value Attracts Funding
At the most basic level, you cannot grow a startup without capital. And yet, getting too fixated on the capital-raising process risks losing focus on creating value, which is what potential investors are actually buying. Early-stage investing is a very risky business, which means investors are always looking for some early proof points of value
Financial planning becomes invaluable when trouble looms
Nothing kills a startup faster than running out of money. And nothing can be more paralyzing to an entrepreneur than realizing the business bank account is plummeting toward empty without a plan, or enough time to stop the freefall. Why does this happen to startups? It usually comes down to one of three familiar phrases
Morgenthaler-Pavey Startup Competition Offers CWRU Student And Alumni Founders A Shot At $25K
Last year, Case Western Reserve University (CWRU) partnered with university trustee and venture capitalist Bob Pavey, JumpStart and the Morgenthaler family to introduce the first Morgenthaler-Pavey Startup Competition. Designed to identify and support high-potential startup companies coming out of CWRU, the second annual competition is currently seeking applications from ventures whose founding teams include at least
5 Essential Legal Issues To Address Before Securing Venture Capital
According to the MoneyTree™ Report by PricewaterhouseCoopers, venture capitalists invested $71.9 billion in 5,052 deals last year in the U.S., making 2017 the second year that saw dollar funding top $70B. The PwC MoneyTree Report further notes that global funding increased nearly 50% in 2017, with $164B invested across 11,042 deals. So what are these
Understanding Funding: The Stages Of A Typical Startup Company & Its Funding Options
Whether you’re a first-time entrepreneur or a seasoned pro, one of your first and most important tasks is to raise the capital you need to grow your venture. The good news is, there are more options than ever. The bad news is, it can sometimes be difficult to know where each option fits into your