Central Ohio entrepreneurs are beating the odds

At TechColumbus, we work a field where failure is the name of the game. The national statistics aren’t pretty. About 60 percent of startups survive to age 3 and just over one-third survive to age 10, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.
But does that mean that we deal with a bunch of losers every day? Absolutely not. In fact, the opposite couldn’t be truer.
Bootstrapping to success
Central Ohio entrepreneurs have more energy and creativity than you can imagine. There’s something special about the brand of entrepreneurship around here. We may not be a hotspot for venture capital, but just as we coach our entrepreneurs, we are bootstrapping — leveraging our own resources and energy to create an innovation economy that’s uniquely our own.
Success breeds success. We have new companies like Nanofiber Solutions creating devices for blood vessel and trachea replacement. Syscom Advanced Materials that creates metal clad fibers that provide significant advantages to the aerospace and defense industries over copper wire.
Simple-Fill is developing a new technology that reliably and affordably compresses natural gas so that it can be used to fuel cars and trucks. 3Bar Biologics provides microorganisms that promote healthier crops and improve yields naturally.
These are just a few of the more than 160 client companies who have more than 770 full-time employees and produced more than $107 million in revenue in 2013 — three times as much as the revenue in 2012.
Seeing the results
The UBI Index recently named TechColumbus to its Global Top 10 university-associated business incubators in an assessment of 800 incubators worldwide. In this global benchmark, TechColumbus clients were evaluated to have a higher survival and growth rate than the global average.
With the collaboration and support of strategic partners and committed local business leaders and service providers, we offer venture development services and a continuum of concept through early-stage capital. This gives Central Ohio entrepreneurs access to the resources they need to reduce risk and more rapidly achieve the milestones that lead to sustainable revenue.
But the bottom line is that we have terrific entrepreneurs with innovative ideas and the grit to stick with it and turn those ideas into companies that create jobs and wealth.
A night of celebration
These companies deserve our support and recognition — and that’s exactly the opportunity that VentureNext brings.
VentureNext, set for Nov. 6, is a chance to see break-through innovation, connect one-on-one with the liveliest entrepreneurs and investors in our region, and just have a good time mixing with some of the most interesting people you’d ever want to meet.
The highlight of the evening will be the announcement of the VentureNext Awards winners:

  • 2014 Startup Awards to the region’s most outstanding startups.
  • 2014 Corporate Engagement Award to at least one outstanding Ohio-based company for contributing above-and-beyond to the Innovation Economy through the Expert or First Connect Networks.
  • 2014 Student Awards for innovative academic achievements.

We invite you to witness the successful side of entrepreneurship, and see for yourself how Central Ohio’s entrepreneurs are beating the odds.