Straight Talk from Startups to Columbus Metropolitan Club: Here’s How You Can Help!
Recently, I had the opportunity to keynote the January 20th Columbus Metropolitan Club luncheon. I was able to share the good news about the Columbus region being the faster growing region in terms of entrepreneurial activity and about Rev1 Ventures being named the most active Great Lakes VC. That got the audience’s attention.
Then we turned to a panel discussion that gave a voice to three startups:
Ardina, a health-care membership company that supplements health-care insurance plans, provides healthcare benefits that people can actually afford to use. Ardina helps families and individuals with high annual deductibles stretch their out-of-pocket healthcare dollars.
Clarivoy solves one of the biggest challenges in advertising today—linking television advertising to results. Clarivoy makes it quick and easy for advertisers to know which networks, shows, time slots, and creative versions drive online response and sales.
TacBoard is a widget that small business owners install on their web sites to college pricing analytics. TacBoard allows Millennials (who have low budget power but high style taste) to “name their price” for items they want to buy. TacBoard was founded by a recent high school graduate who honed her idea in Rev1’s Concept Academy.
These three companies each represent a different stage of startup growth and were all showcased at Rev1’s Fall 2015 Demo Day. TacBoard is in early market validation and prototype development. Ardina is signing up dozens of first customers, and Clarivoy, a seed business accelerating toward the growth stage, has received outside investment from Rev 1 and others and is launching a sophisticated marketing initiative focused on automotive distributorships.
The founders of these companies are all passionate about having their business in Columbus and for very good reason. They are also very clear about the support they need from the Columbus business community to grow into companies that will produce jobs and revenue.
If you are a mentor, a business leader or an investor, I invite you to act on these entrepreneurs’ “asks.”
“Have open arms toward startups. Take a meeting with us.”
Clarivoy CEO, Steve White
“If you’re a business owner or you know business owners that don’t offer healthcare benefits, I’d love to talk to you about Ardina. It’s a great affordable option for your staff.”
Ardina founder and CEO, Shaun Young
“If you have connections in the retail space for small business owners that would like pricing analytics, that would be incredible.”
TacBoard founder and CEO, Disha Shidham
And this need that every startup always has:
“Advisors, mentors, investors and customers. Those are the key things we all need.”
Contact us to connect directly with a Columbus entrepreneur. Enjoy the video recap of the panel discussion:
