TechGROWTH Ohio wins $5.05 million Third Frontier Award, now a $62 million program for southeast Ohio startups

TechGROWTH Ohio, Ohio University’s Ohio Third Frontier entrepreneurial services provider, has been awarded $5.05 million by the state in a competitive funding process for venture development services. The grant will be matched by Ohio University and private organizations, allowing TechGROWTH to continue and expand services through 2022. 

“Innovation is in Ohio’s DNA, it’s who we are,” said Lydia L. Mihalik, director of development and chair of the Ohio Third Frontier Commission, in a release. “We are investing in the ideas and businesses making Ohio the most innovative, creative and entrepreneurial state in the Midwest.”

TechGROWTH Ohio, which is led and managed by Ohio University’s Voinovich School of Leadership and Public Affairs, has developed an expansive network of executives and entrepreneurs-in-residence and strategic partners to identify and assist aspiring new companies and entrepreneurs throughout the region, along with new venture capital and technology commercialization partners like the Ohio Innovation Fund and I-Corps@Ohio. 

“TechGROWTH’s leadership team and partners have built a very competitive program in southeast Ohio. The program has had major spinoffs and impacted the Voinovich School’s approach to regional investment and development,” Voinovich School Dean Mark Weinberg said.

At Ohio University, institutional collaborators include: Office of the Vice President for Research and Creative Activity, College of Business, Center for Entrepreneurship, Innovation Center, Technology Transfer Office and Edison Biotechnology Institute. Regional partners include Shawnee State University, Tech Belt Energy Innovation Center, Belmont County Community Improvement Corporation and others. 

“Ohio University takes its leadership role in boosting economic development in this region of Appalachian Ohio very seriously,” Ohio University President M. Duane Nellis said. “In making its ongoing investment commitment, the Ohio Third Frontier Commission clearly agrees that funding TechGROWTH Ohio is essential to ensuring job creation and entrepreneurial support for this underserved region.”

Founded in 2007 by Ohio University and the Ohio Third Frontier program, TechGROWTH provides intensive professional services and seed-stage investment capital to technology companies and entrepreneurs in Southeast Ohio. It has assisted more than 2,210 entrepreneurs and has invested more than $7 million in 15 startup companies and provided 90 companies nearly $5 in GROWTH funding awards.  With the additional funding, TechGROWTH Ohio will be a $62 million public-private partnership.

“This new award from the Ohio Third Frontier validates the quality of our significant and ongoing efforts to increase technology startup activity and expand economic impact in the coming years,” said Lynn Gellermann, executive director of TechGROWTH and Ohio University’s Center for Entrepreneurship.

These services and investments have helped companies in Southeast Ohio generate more than $560 million in additional economic activity, including co-investments, loans, grants, increased sales and new jobs. Every $1 of state money invested generates almost $24 in economic activity.

Entrepreneurs in southeastern Ohio can visit www.techgrowthohio.com for more information about available investment and venture development resources.