Cincinnati Took Center Stage as a Startup City

It was an unprecedented move that paid off. For the first time, Techstars, a global startup accelerator program, hosted its sixth annual FounderCon in Cincinnati, Ohio, in October attracting more than 1,100 entrepreneurs from across the globe. The event, held in a different city each year, brings Techstars founders together to learn from industry leaders and their peers, share best practices, and leverage their experiences and connections.

According to Cintrifuse, Cincinnati’s startup incubator instrumental in attracting the event to Cincinnati, FounderCon 2016 was the largest Techstars event to date with 60 percent growth over last year. Eighty percent of attendees had never been to Cincinnati before and were impressed by what the city and Ohio offered[WS1] .

REDI Cincinnati collaborated with Cintrifuse to attract what they call the All-Star Game of Startups to Cincinnati. “This is a founders kind of city,” said Johnna Reeder, president and CEO of REDI Cincinnati. “Startups could be anywhere but they choose to be here. Cincinnati knows how to help build businesses. We embrace doers, disruptors and dreamers.”

Founders also had the opportunity to participate in BizDevDay, where they met with corporate partners such as Procter & Gamble, Fifth Third Bank, Kroger, Facebook and Twitter during half-hour sessions. This one-day event resulted in more than 500 individual meetings between large companies and startups, a 35 percent increase over last year. See many of the Ohio startups part of the Techstars network and state corporate partners participating at FounderCon 2016 Ohio BizDevDay in the event video here.

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