Columbus Recognized as Boomtown for Startups

Entrepreneurs, innovators, and venture capitalists are increasingly recognizing Columbus as an exceptional place to start a business.

• Based on unique tech portfolio investments, CB Insights, in The United States of Venture Capital: The Most Active VC in Each State, recognized Rev1 Ventures as the most active VC investor in Ohio.
• In Inc.’s 2020 Surge Cities index, Columbus ranked in the top 15 in early-stage funding deals, with Inc reporting that startups in the region capturing more than $494 million in venture capital in the first three quarters of 2019.
• Columbus ranks in the top 20 Millennial Boomtowns that are attracting millennials and helping them prosper based on millennial population change, workforce participation, unemployment rate, and median wages. Millennials have overtaken Baby Boomers as the largest generation in the U.S. labor force—making up one in every three people seeking work.

Our pipeline of research institutions spinning out technologies and entrepreneurs starting new companies is stronger than ever.

Last year, 19 more new companies joined Rev1’s investor startup studio. Sources if capital continue to expand in the region. Rev1 launched the $15MM Rev1 Catalyst Fund II with The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital to support research-based healthcare innovation. Drive Capital LLC has closed two new funds, $350 million Fund III in November and the $301 million Overdrive Fund this week.

The region’s commitment to corporate innovation gains strength every quarter. State Auto Labs, in less than two years of launching its $25 million corporate venture fund, has invested in five startups.

More than ever, Columbus is a great place to launch a company.