4 minute read
CINTRIFUSE SPOTLIGHT
SPOTLIGHT CINTRIFUSE
INNOVATION ENABLED BY DIGITAL STARTUPS
Cintrifuse is the epicenter of the Cincinnati startup scene, and Cincinnati is no stranger to startups. Two local soap makers who turned their tiny business into a consumer goods company that spans the globe; a small door-to-door insurance sales group that now owns and manages nearly $68 billion in assets; a four-person data mining team that recently reanimated an entire block of downtown for its now more than 600 employees – all have a story that is uniquely Cincinnati.
Cincinnati has a long history of companies like Procter & Gamble, Western & Southern Financial Group, and 84.51° that have grown here, stayed here, and invested here. The City continues to see companies like these take root in Cincinnati, and strategically aligns resources to better partner with them. Realizing the value that startups can bring to economic growth, the local business community and the City of Cincinnati pressed for an innovative startup ecosystem – thus, Cintrifuse was born. Cintrifuse is a unique institution for Cincinnati in the benefits and capability that it offers relative to economic development. It is a public-private partnership that the City of Cincinnati invested in through real estate development of its office space, as well as support of its general operating expenses.
-Wendy Lea, Chief Executive Officer, Cintrifuse
WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO CREATE A THRIVING STARTUP ECOSYSTEM IN CINCINNATI?
That is the question that drives Cincinnati innovation hub Cintrifuse. With a lexicon that includes Series A, super angel groups, growth hacking, and BigCos, the company has brought life to the Cincinnati startup scene that, until recently, had been reserved for large market coastal cities.
There is a bustling energy throughout the historic Over-the-Rhine building that you can link to Cintrifuse CEO Wendy Lea. All over the bright, open space, entrepreneurs are putting innovation to work. Groups and teams from the community are also invited to fill coworking spaces throughout the building. Aptly named Union Hall, 1311 Vine Street is now headquarters for StartupCincy.
Appointed in October 2014, the magnanimous Lea has brought with her a wealth of experience, spanning dozens of countries and numerous prominent leadership positions on tech- and innovation-focused boards. Additionally, she was instrumental in bringing Techstars’ FounderCon 2016 to Cincinnati. The event brought more than 1,100 startup founders, investors and others from around the world together to network and share best practices around tech-based innovation.
Make sure startups are equipped, that they come here, stay here, get customers around here, and get funding. “That’s really my day job,” says Cintrifuse CEO Wendy Lea.
In an ever-changing business climate, Cintrifuse is a dot connector, to put it very simply, working with roughly 300 startups to link their innovation with investors and corporations.
However, the work doesn’t end or even begin at the front door of their offices.
“I’m not building a kingdom; I’m building an economy,” Lea explains. Cintrifuse takes a holistic approach to building the next generation of digital startups, nurturing a certain percentage of those through venture capital-backed startups. Lea continues, “Even that sector influences small to medium business, because these businesses, meaning bootstrapped, or loaned, businesses, thrive around the ecosystem of a venturebacked startup segment. It’s not just one or the other – it’s the combination of all of them that will lift us up, so you have to watch all those different segments.”
Lea doesn’t see any reason why the next Uber or Amazon couldn’t come out of Cincinnati. She reflects on the city’s culture: “I love the tradition of us, but also the desire to bring in some new, vibrant, digital-native next generation. There’s a sincere desire for the tradition of this community to be cracked open a little bit to let new folks in.”
The region’s higher education institutions play an important role in bringing this new talent to the city, Lea relates. She is exactly right when she points out that it is not only her job, but the City’s job as well to make sure graduates are connected to the right degrees and career paths, e.g., digital manufacturing, physical products, cyber security, etc. to thrive in Cincinnati’s economy.
Lea also credits Cincinnati’s burgeoning startup scene to “gritty” entrepreneurship, and observes the Midwestern qualities that drive startups to be mindful of investors’ money and work diligently for what they earn.
Looking down the line, Lea sees good opportunities in several fields for entrepreneurs looking to make an impact in Cincinnati. Given the high level of customer service integrated in health care, retail, foodservice, and hospitality, she hopes to see more innovation around those sectors, as well as others. With industry strongholds like Kroger, Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, Procter & Gamble, and others, Cincinnati is a perfect place to give big companies access to innovation.
Lea emphasizes the importance of Cincinnati’s longstanding larger businesses in the startup ecosystem. These are the businesses that engage with, invest in, and rely on startups. These are the businesses that started out selling bars of soap, and want to give today’s startups their own story of growth that is uniquely Cincinnati.
What’s next for the startup scene in Cincinnati? The Cintrifuse team won’t rest until Union Hall is full and there is a line of next generation tech disrupters out the door.
