Richard Bendis, President and CEO of Innovation America and Vice Chair of NASVF said in a last year’s interview, “Cleveland’s regional ecosystem is one of the most robust regions in the US at this time.” To prove Mr. Bendis’ point, Ohio’s venture capital activity in 2010 strongly recovered from the economic downturn. Investment was up more than 80%, well above the national average of 20%, with over $567 million invested in 341 Ohio companies.
During the last decade, Ohio has been carefully crafting its innovation ecosystem from the“top down” by putting in place unique programs like the Ohio Department of Development’s Ohio Third Frontier initiative and the Ohio Capital Fund and from “bottom up” by supporting strong regional partners like JumpStart and TechColumbus, etc.
To read the full, original article click on this link: First Place Bank's Unique Entrepreneurial Approach to Financing
