Cornerstone Research Group, Inc. (CRG), a privately held aerospace and defense firm that has been “Doing Defense Differently™” since 1997, recently announced the formal launch of its Venture Studio. The CRG Venture Studio will be in charge of identifying and prioritizing commercial opportunities coming out of CRG’s innovations and creating new startup companies.
While CRG’s core business is deep R&D and engineering to solve some of the nation’s most vexing aerospace and defense challenges, CRG has also established a successful track record of commercializing new technologies, spinning out five companies over the past 15 years, including Spintech Holdings and Advantic. However, CRG’s founder and CEO, Patrick Hood, was not satisfied.
“The breadth and depth of technology and inventions that CRG’s employees have created over the years is mind-boggling,” said Hood. “It seemed to me that we needed a methodical way to more rapidly tap that potential, for the benefit of future medical, consumer, and industrial customers as well as to more effectively grow the value of the business.”
Hood’s solution is the Venture Studio, an arm of the CRG organization dedicated to identifying CRG’s most promising commercial opportunities and spinning out new companies to bring those innovations to market. “We investigated a lot of options, looking at the state of the art in business accelerators, incubators, studios, and other concepts for improving the odds of successful technology commercialization,” said Chris Hemmelgarn, CRG’s Chief Revenue Officer. “While we know there will be some learnings and pivots, we are confident we are on the right track to unlock an enormous amount of company value and societal benefit from the Venture Studio. Our internal ‘deal funnel’ is quite full, and we think we have already identified the next five new company opportunities.”
Collaborators within southwest Ohio’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, including The Entrepreneur’s Center (TEC), are enthusiastic about CRG’s move to create a Venture Studio. “We are excited to work with CRG and its Venture Studio to translate ground-breaking defense technologies into broader commercial use,” said Scott Koorndyk, CEO of TEC. “This is a huge boost for the region’s ecosystem and a great opportunity for new high-tech companies to take root in the region.”
Apply by Oct. 23 for the region’s newest Defense Accelerator, a nine-week virtual commercialization training program designed to move any Department of Defense Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) Phase I awardees towards a Phase II or new commercial market.
The accelerator will provide Zoom-based workshops to provide small businesses and entrepreneurs training in topics like customer discovery and business models. Personalized support and coaching will be offered along the way.
The program will run Feb. 1 to April 2, 2021. Apply here by Oct. 23. For more info, email [email protected].
All Dayton-area DoD Phase 1 awardees are encouraged to apply — it does’t matter if you received your award last week or three years ago.
The new program is facilitated by two Launch Dayton partners — it funded by a Wright State Applied Research Corporation grant through the U.S. DoD Office of Economic Adjustment (OEA) and administered by The Entrepreneurs Center (TEC).
Ten startup founders pitched for cash + services at Techstars Startup Week Dayton 2020!
Taking first place in the innovation/tech category was Luis Estevez, founder of AIMM, striving to bring simple, yet effective, anti-microbial solutions to masses through advanced materials sciences.
First place in the main street category went to Andrew Choi, founder of Cousins Meals, a co that prepares convenient meals made from scratch that are healthy and fresh, with tons of flavor for you and your family.
Our Startup Week Dayton Early Risers Pitch Competition sponsor for the second year in a row was The ONEIL Center. The center provides an innovative transdisciplinary experiential learning workspace that simultaneously functions as a classroom, incubator, small business, social impact organization and research lab in a new model of workforce development.
Andrew & Luis won $2,500K cash & $750 in marketing services from The ONEIL Center. Luis will also receive $1,000 in services from partner sponsor Converge Technologies.
Taking second place in the innovation/tech category was Bryan Hunter, founder of Nebula HQ, an accountant’s engine to drive client relationships and provide one cohesive platform for day to day client interaction.
Second place in the main street category went to Aaron Brown, founder of Safe Sports Masks, a company that provides sports masks and face coverings for athletes and people into fitness.
Bryan & Aaron took home $500 in marketing services from The ONEIL Center.
Also pitching were:
• Rhea Adkins, founder of Vegan It IZ Eats, a company that provides products to make adapting a vegan and healthier lifestyle easier than ever;
• Clarissa Foster, founder of Charmed by Riss, a company that designs a beautiful array of stretch cord, wire wrapped bracelets, bangles, and other accessories using precious stone, gemstone, natural wood, and polymer clay beads;
• Cierra Lewis, founder of Bless Me Sweets, a bakery that specializes in gourmet cookies, largely targeted to vegan and plant-based eaters;
• Jack Randall, founder of Illume, a device that allows endurance athletes to send SOS messages to predefined emergency contacts while training;
• T. Osinubi, founder of Delightfully Understandable, working to replace the school-to-prison pipeline with a marketing technology career path;
• Connor DuShane, founder of Smart Slumber, revolutionizing sleep by allowing users to fall asleep quicker, stay asleep longer, and achieve a higher quality of sleep;
All finalists received $200 in marketing services from The ONEIL Center.
Dayton meal-prep startup Picnk is celebrating a $30K+ investment, founder Will Foster announced recently.
The investment is a win at the end of a hard year — in addition to adjusting to a global pandemic, the startup had to temporarily scale back their menu after an electrical fire hit their kitchen this summer.
Today, the full menu is back, and this investment will help the startup to restructure and to expand their Dayton-inspired line, which incorporates products from fellow local food cos as ingredients in prepped meals — think tacos featuring Mutt’s Sauce, mac & cheese made with Toxic Brewery ale, and pasta with vodka sauce starring Belle of Dayton spirits.
The Picnk team is also expanding, Will said. Karlee Mason came onboard late last year as partner and Chief Operating Officer, and the pair hired an additional 4 team members this fall. Karlee brings a background in organizational leadership to the Picnk team, and she helps oversee marketing and expansion in the Dayton area.
Throughout the COVID crisis, Picnk donated more than 2K meals across the Dayton community & partnered with The Dayton Foodbank to provide more than 7K reduced-price meals to support their staff and mission. And despite the pandemic, the startup also generated profits for the first time this summer, hitting that financial goal in less than three years, Will said.
“We’ve faced a lot of challenges this year and I’m very proud of the work the Picnk team has done in the community,” he said.
Want some prepped meals? Check out the Picnk menu here. Meals orders are due by 6 pm on Saturdays. Meal pick-up is 4-7pm on Sundays, and meal deliveries are between 4 & 8p on Mondays.
Six area entrepreneurs have joined the Greater West Dayton Incubator Advisory Council, the org announced recently.
The Incubator seeks to develop an equitable start-up community that places entrepreneurs at the center. To do so, it launched a public process for community members to nominate Greater West Dayton entrepreneurs and business owners that would best represent the voice of underrepresented, under-served, and under-resourced entrepreneurs. The team received 29 nominations for 18 different entrepreneurs.
“Thank you to everyone that submitted nominations for this critical step in the development of a collective vision,” director Karlos Marshall write in an email. “Below you can read a statement from each entrepreneur that has joined the team. Please help us give them a warm welcome!”
Clarece Richardson: “I am excited about the GWDI and its commitment to the West Dayton community. I am eager to serve and offer additional business leadership experience to the advisory board. It is my goal for that experience and insight to provide equitable programs to new and existing businesses.”
Cherrelle Gardner: “I am excited to join the GWDI Advisory Board because it gives us the opportunity to shift much needed resources to our community of current and aspiring entrepreneurs in the Greater West Dayton area. With these additional resources we can accelerate the development of businesses that meet compelling community needs.”
Christina Mendez: “I’m excited to be apart of the Greater West Dayton Incubator because I’m invested in helping black and brown people navigate through entrepreneurship and really learn to monetize their knowledge base. In order to be a leader, you must learn to effectively serve. I am so excited for an opportunity to serve my community.”
Deirreon Durrant: “I decided to join the team because I’d like to add a positive perspective to ALL the teams that come aboard. We are all seeking positive change in our communities so to be apart of something that is uplifting is inspiring to me. A way to “pay it forward.”
LeKeisha Grant: “Entrepreneurship is the lifeblood of many communities and West Dayton is no different. Assisting in bringing the necessary resources to help my community is important.”
Tae Winston: “I’m excited to join because I want to make a difference in my community. I want to help small businesses grow and get the support they need to go further.”
Thank you, all who attended Techstars Startup Week Dayton 2020, and to all of you who helped make it happen.
We hope you made valuable connections and picked up needed knowledge to help you move your companies & ideas forward.
We’re always working to improve our programing — please take our Startup Week 2020 survey and let us know what worked, what didn’t, & what you want to see next year.
We recorded all of this year’s sessions, stay tuned to our @LaunchDayton channels for first access!
We could not have pulled this event off without an amazing group of committed sponsors, many of which have been with us for multiple years.
Our title sponsors for this year were Fifth Third Bank, The Entrepreneurs Center, and Wright State Applied Research Corporation.
The New Media Incubator was our official Technology Partner this year. They helped immensely as we shifted to a virtual environment.
The ONEIL Center sponsored our Early Risers Startup Week Edition Pitch Competition.
Tangram Flex, Infinite Management Solutions, and JJR Solutions sponsored this year’s Defense Track.
& 937 Payroll, the Downtown Dayton Partnership, and Converge Technologies stepped up as Partner Sponsors.
Thank you all for your ongoing support of Startup Week and our greater entrepreneur community!
These community champions have volunteered their time over the last several months to identify topics relevant to entrepreneurs in their industry & secure the right speakers to deliver those messages.
Andrew Cothrel & John Lewis: MedTech
Eric Wagner & Kaila Miller: Materials & Manufacturing
LeKeisha Grant & Tae Winston: Healthy/Beauty/Wellness
Mandy Grosko: Food & Beverage
Ryan Helbach & Anissa Lumpkin: Defense
Thank you all for your work!
The New Media Incubator at Wright State University is a media production and innovation hub on campus that connects with the local and global community.
New Media Inc was the official technology partner for Techstars Startup Week Dayton 2020. They handled all our livestreaming & pre-recording needs impeccably, and we couldn’t have pulled off this year’s virtual pivot without them. Learn more about the org here.
Thank you Ashley, Jen, Amie, Tionna, Marvin & Brenden for your support and excellent work this week!
Applications are open for the MedTech Launch Fund, which aims to pump $550,000 into medtech startups across the Dayton region.
The MedTech Launch Fund will accelerate the development of medical technology opportunities in the Dayton region by funding alpha prototype development to validate and advance a technology’s commercial viability and move it toward commercialization through a startup company.
The MedTech Launch Fund is part of a new collaborative effort to align the Dayton region’s healthcare specialization, defense research assets and entrepreneurial ecosystem to spin out new medical technologies faster. The Launch Dayton partner organization of WSARC was awarded a $200,000 Technology Validation and Startup Fund grant from Ohio Third Frontier in July to launch this new initiative. The effort is also backed by $330,000 from the Economic Development Administration’s i6 program. WSARC’s Launch Dayton efforts are also supported by the Entrepreneurial Services Provider program, administered locally by The Entrepreneurs Center.
“WSARC is thrilled to create the region’s newest startup fund to push the region’s innovation to market,” said Dennis Andersh, WSARC CEO.
The time to market for medical technology is longer than other industries because it can take years to complete the necessary testing to meet regulatory standards. While the Dayton region is rich in R&D institutions, entrepreneurs who want to get those technologies out of the labs and into the healthcare system often lack necessary resources to build and test prototypes. The MedTech Launch Fund will provide gap funding to help regional medtech entrepreneurs build the prototypes they need to seek angel and pre-seed investment.
“We are thrilled to have a pre-seed financing vehicle of this size and flexibility to deploy,” said Andrew Cothrel, chair of the MedTech Launch Fund Selection Committee. “The Selection Committee is looking forward to this first round of applications at the beginning of the next chapter in Dayton’s rapidly developing medtech startup scene. This kind of pre-seed money is a scarce resource that can make a real difference to an entrepreneur and, some day, to the patients that benefit from their startup.”
Through the MedTech Launch Fund, up to $550,000 in grants will be competitively awarded to projects to perform validation activities such as prototyping, demonstration and assessment of critical failure points in subsequent development, scale-up and commercialization in order to generate proof of viability needed to move technologies into the hands of Ohio startup companies to take to market.
“MedTech” is defined broadly to include medical devices, diagnostics, imaging, patient monitoring, surgical tools, implants, therapies, supplements and medical foods, wellness, performance optimization, prevention, hygiene, life science research tools, therapeutic methods, health data mining and application of AI, healthcare delivery cost reduction and workflow / efficiency improvement, patient safety and all other aspects of technologies intended to protect, improve or otherwise optimize human health.
The fund will source technologies from two tracks:
Want a piece of the MedTech Launch Fund for your startup? Apply for the first round of funding at https://gust.com/programs/medtech-launch-fund by Sept. 30, 2020. Projects that fit the program will be invited to pitch to the selection committee in November. Notifications of acceptance into fund and project kickoff will be in December. Questions about the program can be directed to John Own, Launch Dayton program manager at [email protected].
The MedTech Launch Fund is supported by Launch Dayton partner organizations, which includes WSARC. Launch Dayton is a collaborative effort to connect entrepreneurs to peers, resources and supporters, and to tell the stories of our region’s thriving startup community. Launch Dayton partners believe everyone, regardless of their background, should have the opportunity to determine their own economic prosperity.
Ten startups cos will pitch for cash + prizes tonight at the annual Startup Week Dayton Early Risers Pitch Competition, kicking off at 6p!
Early Risers is a monthly pitch event that allows growing startups the opportunity to pitch their startup to an audience of business and community leaders, resource providers, and other entrepreneurs. Each pitch ends with an ask, such as connections to a target customer or potential investor or help finding a key employee or partner to move the company forward.
At Startup Week we expand the event to 10 companies: 5 innovation-based cos and 5 main street businesses. The top winner in each category will take home $2,500 in cash + additional services.
Tonight’s pitch competition + storytelling night will be emceed by Amelia Robinson, Community Impact Editor at Dayton Daily News.
Tonight you’ll meet:
• Rhea Adkins, founder of Vegan It IZ Eats, a company that provides products to make adapting a vegan and healthier lifestyle easier than ever;
• Clarissa Foster, founder of Charmed by Riss, a company that designs a beautiful array of stretch cord, wire wrapped bracelets, bangles, and other accessories using precious stone, gemstone, natural wood, and polymer clay beads;
• Aaron Brown, founder of Safe Sports Masks, a company that provides sports masks and face coverings for athletes and people into fitness;
• Cierra Lewis, founder of Bless Me Sweets, a bakery that specializes in gourmet cookies, largely targeted to vegan and plant-based eaters;
• Andrew Choi, founder of Cousin’s Meals, a co that prepares convenient meals made from scratch that are healthy and fresh, with tons of flavor for you and your family;
• Jack Randall, founder of Illume, a device that allows endurance athletes to send SOS messages to predefined emergency contacts while training;
• Bryan Hunter, founder of Nebula HQ, an accountant’s engine to drive client relationships and provide one cohesive platform for day to day client interaction;
• T. Osinubi, founder of Delightfully Understandable, working to replace the school-to-prison pipeline with a marketing technology career path;
• Connor DuShane, founder of Smart Slumber, revolutionizing sleep by allowing users to fall asleep quicker, stay asleep longer, and achieve a higher quality of sleep;
• Luis Estevez, founder of AIMM, striving to bring simple, yet effective, anti-microbial solutions to masses through advanced materials sciences.
Our Startup Week Dayton Early Risers Pitch Competition sponsor for the second year in a row is The ONEIL Center. The ONEIL Center at Wright State was founded in 2017 thanks to a corporate gift of $675K from O’Neil & Associates. The center provides an innovative transdisciplinary experiential learning workspace that simultaneously functions as a classroom, incubator, small business, social impact organization and research lab in a new model of workforce development.
All companies pitching tonight will receive in-kind marketing services from The ONEIL Center. Winners will receive $750 of services, runner ups, $500, and other finalists $200. The winner in the innovation category will also receive $1,000 of in-kind engineering services from partner sponsor Converge Technologies.
Judges will score tonight’s pitches on
Our judges are:
While judges deliberate, we’ll share stories from local founders who completed a workshop with LORE.
LORE was founded by Bridget Flaherty, who believes in authentic stories. “An authentic story knocks down walls,” she writes on her website. “It helps people in organizations see each other as human and can build confidence in customers. Stories even have the power to unite people from vastly different backgrounds and perspectives.”
This year, we invited a few local founders to participate in a LORE workshop, then record their story to share at Startup Week. We’ll hear from Kate Edmundson, founder of tend&flourish, and Charles Nick, founder of Third Wave Water. We’ll also introduce you to some of the entreprenuers who have pitched at Early Risers over the last few years.
If you’d like to learn more about how you could pitch one of these monthly events, contact Audrey at [email protected], or connect with her in the chat feature of this year’s Startup Week app.
Already registered for Techstars Startup Week Dayton 2020, our free, annual, week-long, entrepreneurship conference?
Here are five reasons to download the app today:
1. Personalize Your Schedule: Select the sessions you care about & add them to your personal agenda.
2. Join From Anywhere: We’re fully virtual this year! Stream from your home or office computer, or jump in from your phone while you’re on the go.
3. Connect With Attendees*: Chat and network with fellow attendees. Share what you liked about the prior session and meet someone who will help you move your business forward.
4. Connect With Resources: Learn about local resources to help you launch and grow your business, and apply for programs directly from the event app.
5. Play Our Event Game*: Complete challenges, like attending the Techstars Startup Week Dayton kickoff talk. Score points for each challenge you complete. Win gift cards to Dayton businesses!
Access the official Startup Week Dayton 2020 app on iOS, Android, or via the web. Download it here.
*Available on the mobile app only
A little over a year after winning the 2019 Techstars Startup Week Dayton Early Risers Pitch Competition, Vaniti Byrd is opening her first downtown Dayton storefront for Baba Love Organics.
“It feels crazy to think I was pitching my budding business just this time last year,” she said.
Baba Love Organics’ first downtown storefront will open this Friday, Sept. 18, at 116 W. 5th St., with a pink ribbon-cutting ceremony at 5p.
When she launched her new Green Beauty Box on Earth Day, it sold out in 22 minutes.
Last week, she launched her Kiva campaign to continue to scale through COVID19. It was funded in five days.
The space for the new Baba Love store formerly housed LORE and Beaute Box, both other woman-owned businesses.
“I’ve gotten so much love from everyone who supports my business, they’re excited about the store,” she said. “Everything is moving, so we’re doing good.”
Want to hear more of her story? Catch her talk at Startup Week Dayton 2020!
31 S. Main St.
Dayton, OH 45402
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