Startups + VC
Powered by a double opt-in matchmaking tool, this fourth annual gathering extends meeting blocks to 20 minutes for nearly 1,000 attendees. Expanded corporate innovation teams join the Huntington Convention Center floor to offer direct pilots, partnerships, and customer relationships.
Infrastructure
Backed by a $6 million municipal, state, and corporate funding model, crews are completing the remaining line work before year's end. Alongside the network upgrade, local outreach programs and digital literacy courses have already delivered hundreds of laptops to local families.
Startups + VC
SpaceX alumni behind 1872 are using one of Ohio’s largest seed rounds to build an AI-native factory model for energy, utility and industrial customers, aiming to cut steel fabrication lead times from months to weeks with software, robotics and physical AI.
Fueled by logistics dominance and aggressive site development, the state’s rise reflects years of coordinated economic strategy. Major investments in semiconductors, energy, and AI infrastructure are accelerating its position as a national hub for industrial-scale innovation.
AI25, presented by Ohio Tech News and OhioX, recognizes leaders turning artificial intelligence into real-world impact across Ohio — from startups and classrooms to hospitals, public agencies, manufacturing floors, and the capital backing what comes next.
Resilience’s move from San Diego to Blue Ash cements Southwest Ohio as a million‑square‑foot hub for sterile injectables and advanced packaging, tying corporate leadership directly to its expanding West Chester manufacturing network and new high‑skill jobs in the region.
Facing a projected shortage of more than 540,000 skilled workers over the next decade, Ohio is launching a $300 million workforce initiative. The program aims to reach roughly 25,000 Ohioans by providing financial incentives for hybrid work-and-education models in critical industries.
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Beehive Industries is scaling 3D-printed jet engine production for military drones in Southwest Ohio, targeting 8,000+ units annually. Backed by a $29.7M Air Force contract, the initiative creates over 200 jobs while compressing defense manufacturing timelines from years to months.
Electra’s EL9 Ultra Short factory in Springfield puts hybrid-electric aviation on a manufacturing track. The aircraft uses blown-lift technology and can take off and land in just 150 feet.
Columbus-based RWX has expanded its partnership with Ratmir Timashev’s OH.io, marking the platform’s first deal with a local startup. OH.io will run RWX’s go-to-market engine under a revenue-share model, allowing the CI/CD cloud infrastructure team to focus on product development.
The O.H.I.O. Fund has launched Ohio 4.0, a statewide campaign framing the state’s manufacturing roots as its greatest asset in the age of physical AI. The initiative argues Ohio is positioned to lead the nation's next economic era as supply chains reshore.
Supported by a $30 million JobsOhio investment, the Ohio Life Science Training Center is partnering with community colleges to build a statewide pipeline. This initiative delivers short-term, module-based training for technical biomanufacturing jobs that do not require degrees.
With the rapid addition of tech startups like Spearfish, Symmitri, and jakib.ai, the downtown Columbus hub’s second-floor Scaleup Suites are filling ahead of schedule. Backed by municipal partners, the site fosters collaboration and connects founders directly with venture capital.
Cleveland-based Auxilium Health closed an oversubscribed $3.4 million seed round to move its Aer biomaterial platform toward FDA clearance and first-in-human studies, aiming to prevent infection by stopping bacteria from attaching in the first place.
A Case Western Reserve–led coalition of more than 70 partners has landed a coveted National Science Foundation Regional Innovation Engines award, unlocking up to $160 million over 10 years to wire AI, automation and robotics into the region’s industrial backbone.
Fifteen years ago, Ohio ranked 34th for business competitiveness. Today, it sits at number one. In this OTN op-ed, Patrick Tiberi explores how a unified state strategy reshaped Ohio into a magnet for advanced tech—and why the state must double down on energy and infrastructure to keep its lead.
Founders, investors, operators and creators converge in Cincinnati July 14–16 for Black Tech Week, with sessions on capital, AI, corporate partnerships and career pathways plus JobsOhio-led programming linking attendees to statewide tech and startup resources.
Seed funding from global and Ohio investors backs a Dayton startup betting that ultra‑compact laser links can ease a growing satellite data bottleneck and position the state at the center of the space‑based data infrastructure race.
The equity-free Trailblazer program provides non-dilutive capital and hands-on mentorship to pre-seed and seed-stage founders. Beyond tapping a network of 200 service providers, the group will present their traction to Ohio's investment community at a showcase on August 27.
