2019 Momentum Carries into New Year
“You should run your life not by the calendar but by how you feel, and your interests and ambitions.” – John Glenn, astronaut and U.S. Senator
It’s been a great 12 months of accomplishment for Columbus’ entrepreneurs and the venture community that supports them.
We are a city and a region committed to teamwork and collaboration. We are home to many of the finest research institutions in the world. Not only do these institutions continue to produce scientific breakthroughs, they spin out and license those new technologies.
And we have superb entrepreneurs starting and scaling up successful companies. 2019 highlights include:
- Nineteen more new companies joined Rev1’s investor startup studio.
- Fast-growing ScriptDrop has revolutionized prescription delivery by seamlessly connecting pharmacies to a network of trained, professional couriers. ScriptDrop was named VentureOhio’s 2019 Growth-stage Startup of the Year.
- The Toasted Oat has grown displays of its delicious gluten-free granola from 350 to 3,000 stores.
- AwareAbility was featured by the Department of Energy for its proof-of-concept work in applying advanced sensor solutions to address key technology gaps in future nuclear energy systems.
- Myonexus, a spinout of Nationwide Children’s Hospital, was acquired by Sarepta Therapeutics in a $165 million exit.
- PriceSpider acquired ORIS Intelligence.
- The 5000 List recognized 37 Columbus companies. Updox and Snapsheet are Rev1 portfolio companies. Vantage Point Logistics (VPL) is a Rev1 Labs graduate, and ZoCo Design is a Rev1 vetted service provider.
- State Auto Labs, in less than two years of launching its $25MM corporate venture fund, has invested in five startups.
- Rev1 launched a $15MM fund with The Ohio State University and Nationwide Children’s Hospital to support research-based healthcare innovation.
It took John Glenn just four hours and 56 minutes to circle the globe three times. It takes the earth 365 days (plus 6 hours) to orbit the sun. Every four years, those extra six hours are batched into an extra day—2020 will be one of those years.
What if each of us took inspiration from Colonel Glenn and invested that extra day in something we are passionately interested in? Imagine the ideas and innovations that could occur.
We wish each of you and your loved ones peace, prosperity, and fulfillment in the upcoming year.
