Techstars

Techstars Central LLC, founded in 2006 and based in Boulder, Colorado, operates as a startup accelerator and venture capital firm focused on supporting early-stage technology-oriented companies. It specializes in a mentorship-driven accelerator program, selecting ten startups each summer to participate in a three-month incubation period, offering funding of $120,000 in exchange for equity. Techstars invests primarily in sectors such as fintech, artificial intelligence, blockchain, augmented reality, and IoT, while avoiding investments in medical devices, healthcare technology, and local service-oriented businesses. In addition to its primary accelerator, Techstars has various specialized programs, including those focused on music, retail, mobility, and social impact, with global reach extending to regions such as Africa, Asia, and Latin America. The firm prefers taking minority stakes, typically between six and ten percent, without seeking board representation or investor rights. Techstars has built a robust network of entrepreneurs, mentors, and corporate partners to foster innovation and growth within its portfolio, which includes over 1,000 companies with a significant collective market capitalization.

Ethan Austin

MD of the Techstars Western Union Accelerator

Max Kelly

Managing Director of Techstars London

Lesa Mitchell

Managing Director

Vijay Tirathrai

Managing Director

Mark Tortorella

Advisor

Nathanial Zola

MD

Past deals in Ohio

Backpack Healthcare

Seed Round in 2023
We are a digital pediatric mental health company.

OndeCare

Pre Seed Round in 2021
OndeCare is an innovative marketplace that connects clients with professional caregivers for in-home care services. Designed for convenience, the platform allows users to book care quickly and efficiently, offering reliable, high-quality support for individuals of all ages and needs. OndeCare focuses on providing concierge-level assistance, ensuring that clients receive tailored services that fit their schedules and requirements. By facilitating these connections, the company not only addresses the caring needs of families but also generates meaningful job opportunities for local care, safety, and education professionals. The platform aims to make in-home care accessible and affordable, aligning its services with the costs of traditional home care solutions.

Fleri

Seed Round in 2021
Fleri is an insurance technology startup founded in 2020 and based in Columbus, Ohio. The company is dedicated to serving the families of migrants living in the diaspora by offering insurance coverage and related financial solutions. Fleri's platform enables immigrants to support their dependent relatives overseas without relying on traditional money transfers. It provides access to quality healthcare for these loved ones through a dedicated family care manager, an assigned primary care doctor, and unlimited care coordination. This approach ensures transparency and accountability, allowing migrants to effectively sponsor the well-being of their families back home.

TinnCann

Funding Round in 2021
TinnCann is an online communication platform that connects experts with their fans and followers through paid, one-on-one video calls. The platform provides a marketplace that simplifies the process of scheduling, transactions, and video interactions, allowing experts to engage with their audience while preserving their privacy. Users can easily search for and connect with their preferred experts or influencers, enabling real-time conversations that foster deeper community connections. TinnCann's technology streamlines the entire experience, requiring only a user profile to get started, thus eliminating any technical hurdles for both experts and their audiences.

Growella Inc

Seed Round in 2020
Growella Inc, operating under the name Homebuyer, specializes in providing digital mortgage services tailored for first-time home buyers. Established in 2019 and based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company offers a range of resources including mortgage information, rate comparisons, down payment guidance, credit score assessments, and loan approval assistance. Additionally, Homebuyer.ai delivers personalized and adaptive educational content to help aspiring home buyers navigate the complexities of the mortgage process.

OnStation

Pre Seed Round in 2020
OnStation builds an app that provides instant jobsite location, access to plans and design, and a team communication tool. It features an automatic station finder that empowers the user with the quickest and easiest way to know their location on the job. Their Station Finder feature can be converted to operate from the user's statewide milepost network. This allows OnStation to provide value on the numerous smaller jobs where survey data and project documents might be limited.

PROJiTECH

Pre Seed Round in 2020
PROJiTECH is dedicated to incorporating the latest mobile technology into the field of civil projects. They want to work with businesses and organizations who design and build civil projects by providing powerful project-specific apps that allow you to quickly and easily access project information like never before! Let us show you how our apps can make you real difference in the way you work.

Growella Inc

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Growella Inc, operating under the name Homebuyer, specializes in providing digital mortgage services tailored for first-time home buyers. Established in 2019 and based in Cincinnati, Ohio, the company offers a range of resources including mortgage information, rate comparisons, down payment guidance, credit score assessments, and loan approval assistance. Additionally, Homebuyer.ai delivers personalized and adaptive educational content to help aspiring home buyers navigate the complexities of the mortgage process.

Sawa

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Sawa design and develop automated graphic design platform. The company is based in the United States. As of February 8, 2019, Sawa operates as a subsidiary of The Rocket Science Group, LLC.

Strongsuit

Pre Seed Round in 2019
Speedwell & Yarrow, Inc. provides the professionals with the reminders to celebrate and remember the important occasions and events. The company through its mobile application allows user to create a digital profile with the important dates of their life. Speedwell & Yarrow, Inc. was incorporated in 2018 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

MedPilot

Seed Round in 2018
MedPilot is a tool designed to make healthcare billings & collections departments more effective and efficient. Our software uses data science and behavioral targeting to recommend patient engagement methods, personalize communications and resolve outstanding balances. MedPilot’s analytics reporting can also increase the productivity of in-house & third party call centers. A Techstars Company

Aunt Flow

Pre Seed Round in 2018
Aunt Flow Corp. is a manufacturer and supplier of menstrual products, including tampons and pads, made from 100% organic cotton. Founded in 2018 and based in Columbus, Ohio, the company is committed to ensuring access to menstrual products for all individuals. For every tampon purchased online, Aunt Flow donates a tampon to someone in need within the United States. In addition to menstrual products, the company offers a range of related merchandise, such as apparel and educational materials, available through its online platform. Aunt Flow distributes its products to businesses and educational institutions via wholesalers and online retailers, further expanding its reach in promoting menstrual health and hygiene.

Kai

Pre Seed Round in 2018
To really reach your goals, you need a coach. For most of us, though, great coaching is completely inaccessible due to high cost and inconvenience. The problem is that human coaching just doesn’t scale. That’s why we built Kai. Our technology enables a low-cost “agent” to manage hundreds of high-value clients on behalf of a qualified coach. For the coach or coaching organization, this means access to a market they previously could not serve. For the consumer, it means access to coaching regardless of income level or life situation. Kai empowers human coaches to scale like never before. Powered by augmented intelligence (humans and machines working together), our technology enables a coach who formerly could only serve 10s of clients to now effectively serve 100s. For the coach or coaching organization, this means access to a market they previously could not serve; for the consumer, it means access to coaching regardless of income level or life situation.

MedPilot

Pre Seed Round in 2018
MedPilot is a tool designed to make healthcare billings & collections departments more effective and efficient. Our software uses data science and behavioral targeting to recommend patient engagement methods, personalize communications and resolve outstanding balances. MedPilot’s analytics reporting can also increase the productivity of in-house & third party call centers. A Techstars Company

ConnXus

Series A in 2018
ConnXus supplier management solutions simplify the complexities of global supply chains and allow buyers to achieve their goals of responsible and sustainable sourcing. ConnXus is a NMSDC, CPUC, CAMSC and State of Ohio-certified minority-owned business enterprise based in Mason, Ohio with local, regional and international capabilities.

PopCom

Seed Round in 2017
PopCom, Inc. designs and manufactures vending machines for consumer products. PopCom, Inc. was formerly known as Solutions Vending International and changed its name to PopCom, Inc. in August 2018. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Vlipsy

Seed Round in 2017
Vlipsy, Inc. is a startup based in Canton, Ohio, that specializes in providing a platform for short, conversational video clips. Founded in 2017 by Nickless and Co-founder Matt Tew, the company offers users a way to search, watch, and create video clips that can be shared in online communications through its mobile application. Unlike traditional GIFs, Vlipsy’s clips include sound, enhancing the user experience. The platform allows users to create accounts and access a variety of clips from their favorite internet videos. Additionally, Vlipsy offers an API that facilitates third-party integrations, making it compatible with popular communication tools such as Slack, Skype, Viber, Telegram, and Kik. The innovative approach of combining video and audio has helped Vlipsy gain traction among users looking for engaging ways to communicate online.

Bybe

Convertible Note in 2017
Bybe, Inc. is a technology company based in Columbus, Ohio, that develops a mobile platform designed for retailers to manage alcohol promotions. Founded in 2017, Bybe's platform facilitates the management of offers for beer, wine, and spirits, catering to both leading adult beverage brands and retailers. The company’s vertically integrated technology streamlines the process of offer creation, distribution, validation, remittance, and customer support, while also providing data visualization tools. Bybe specializes in ensuring compliance with state-specific regulations for alcohol promotions and focuses on enhancing retail integration and user experience. The platform aims to simplify digital alcohol promotions, enabling brands and retailers to connect effectively with consumers through engaging digital programs.

PopCom

Pre Seed Round in 2017
PopCom, Inc. designs and manufactures vending machines for consumer products. PopCom, Inc. was formerly known as Solutions Vending International and changed its name to PopCom, Inc. in August 2018. The company was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Columbus, Ohio.

Immersed

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Immersed Inc. is a company based in Cincinnati, Ohio, specializing in Virtual Reality (VR) workplace productivity software. Founded in 2016, the company focuses on developing technologies that eliminate barriers to remote work, aiming to enhance productivity and improve the overall work experience. Immersed's software enables laptops to connect with mobile devices, allowing distributed teams to collaborate in a shared VR environment. This innovative approach seeks to transform the way people work, promoting efficiency and creating a more enjoyable workplace experience.

Immersed

Convertible Note in 2017
Immersed Inc. is a company based in Cincinnati, Ohio, specializing in Virtual Reality (VR) workplace productivity software. Founded in 2016, the company focuses on developing technologies that eliminate barriers to remote work, aiming to enhance productivity and improve the overall work experience. Immersed's software enables laptops to connect with mobile devices, allowing distributed teams to collaborate in a shared VR environment. This innovative approach seeks to transform the way people work, promoting efficiency and creating a more enjoyable workplace experience.

Vlipsy

Pre Seed Round in 2017
Vlipsy, Inc. is a startup based in Canton, Ohio, that specializes in providing a platform for short, conversational video clips. Founded in 2017 by Nickless and Co-founder Matt Tew, the company offers users a way to search, watch, and create video clips that can be shared in online communications through its mobile application. Unlike traditional GIFs, Vlipsy’s clips include sound, enhancing the user experience. The platform allows users to create accounts and access a variety of clips from their favorite internet videos. Additionally, Vlipsy offers an API that facilitates third-party integrations, making it compatible with popular communication tools such as Slack, Skype, Viber, Telegram, and Kik. The innovative approach of combining video and audio has helped Vlipsy gain traction among users looking for engaging ways to communicate online.

Nexosis

Venture Round in 2016
Nexosis, Inc. develops and provides an automated machine learning platform to enable data driven decisions. The company offers Axon, a machine learning platform which ingests multiple data sources to create actionable insights. It primarily serves retail, quick service restaurants, food/beverage, and consumer packaged goods industries. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Westerville, Ohio. As of July 10, 2018, Nexosis, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of DataRobot, Inc.

Losant

Seed Round in 2016
Losant is a developer platform designed to helps people build complex connected solutions. Losant provides powerful data collection, aggregation, and visualization features to help understand and quantify vast amounts of sensor data. It was founded in 2015 and headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

CompleteSet

Seed Round in 2016
CompleteSet, Inc. owns and operates an online marketplace for tracking, buying, and selling collectibles. The company allows users to buy and sells products in the areas of fashion, home and office, toys, souvenirs, games, food and beverage, and books. It offers solutions for males, unisex, and females. CompleteSet, Inc. was founded in 2012 and is headquartered in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Spatial.ai

Seed Round in 2016
Spatial Labs, Inc. is a software company that specializes in integrating social layers into maps through a combination of human-driven analysis and machine-assisted technology. The firm develops solutions that enhance travel booking by embedding relevant information directly into existing maps, while also providing local insights through data analysis. Spatial Labs offers Xéro, a tool that incorporates spatial data into AI assistants for in-ear and in-vehicle use, enabling users to obtain answers to their questions. Additionally, the company focuses on urban planning by revealing the human aspects of cities. Founded in 2016 and based in Cincinnati, Ohio, Spatial Labs serves various industries, including travel booking, real estate, urban planning, and mobility. The company emphasizes the importance of human experience in data interpretation, employing ethnographic research techniques to reconnect data with its origins in human interactions.

ConnXus

Series A in 2016
ConnXus supplier management solutions simplify the complexities of global supply chains and allow buyers to achieve their goals of responsible and sustainable sourcing. ConnXus is a NMSDC, CPUC, CAMSC and State of Ohio-certified minority-owned business enterprise based in Mason, Ohio with local, regional and international capabilities.

FamilyTech

Debt Financing in 2016
FamilyTech offers brands and businesses a family-focused environment. It offers apps used by millions of parents, teens, kids, and couples to make life easier and more rewarding. Its apps are used by millions of parents, teens, kids, and couples to make life easier and more rewarding. Its current lineup includes MotherShp (for parents), Landra (for teens), ChoreMonster (for kids), and HoneyDo (for couples). It was founded in 2011 and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

Nexosis

Venture Round in 2016
Nexosis, Inc. develops and provides an automated machine learning platform to enable data driven decisions. The company offers Axon, a machine learning platform which ingests multiple data sources to create actionable insights. It primarily serves retail, quick service restaurants, food/beverage, and consumer packaged goods industries. The company was incorporated in 2015 and is based in Westerville, Ohio. As of July 10, 2018, Nexosis, Inc. operates as a subsidiary of DataRobot, Inc.

LISNR

Venture Round in 2015
LISNR® powers transactions across the customer journey globally with the most advanced Ultrasonic Data Platform. Today, companies like Jaguar Land Rover, Ticketmaster, and Visa use this solution to create secure & frictionless moments for consumers around the world. Founded in 2012, LISNR is located in Oakland, CA and Cincinnati, OH. Major investors include Intel, Jump Capital, Mercury Fund, R/GA, and Synchrony Financial.

LISNR

Venture Round in 2014
LISNR® powers transactions across the customer journey globally with the most advanced Ultrasonic Data Platform. Today, companies like Jaguar Land Rover, Ticketmaster, and Visa use this solution to create secure & frictionless moments for consumers around the world. Founded in 2012, LISNR is located in Oakland, CA and Cincinnati, OH. Major investors include Intel, Jump Capital, Mercury Fund, R/GA, and Synchrony Financial.

ExpenseBot

Seed Round in 2014
ExpenseBot Inc. is a developer of an expense management platform that simplifies the process of creating, approving, and reimbursing expense reports for businesses. Founded in 2013 and based in Shaker Heights, Ohio, the company utilizes artificial intelligence to automate expense reporting by integrating data from various sources, including calendar applications, email, credit card transactions, and GPS information. This technology not only streamlines the completion of expense reports but also analyzes expense data to identify reimbursable items, generating reports when specific thresholds are met. ExpenseBot aims to enhance operational efficiency for organizations by making expense management more straightforward and effective.

FamilyTech

Seed Round in 2014
FamilyTech offers brands and businesses a family-focused environment. It offers apps used by millions of parents, teens, kids, and couples to make life easier and more rewarding. Its apps are used by millions of parents, teens, kids, and couples to make life easier and more rewarding. Its current lineup includes MotherShp (for parents), Landra (for teens), ChoreMonster (for kids), and HoneyDo (for couples). It was founded in 2011 and is based in Cincinnati, Ohio.

ConnXus

Pre Seed Round in 2014
ConnXus supplier management solutions simplify the complexities of global supply chains and allow buyers to achieve their goals of responsible and sustainable sourcing. ConnXus is a NMSDC, CPUC, CAMSC and State of Ohio-certified minority-owned business enterprise based in Mason, Ohio with local, regional and international capabilities.

Synch

Seed Round in 2013
Synch provides a range of smart inventory and ordering solutions. The company’s solution portfolio includes a smart phone application and a web dashboard. The smart phone application helps users capture their orders and manage their inventories on the move without paper and pencil. Statistics and analytics are presented on web dashboards as well as in the app to help users with their master demand planning and decisions Synch was founded by Changhao Han and Scott Dyer, and is based in Toronto, Ohio.