Keeping Builders in the Queen City: Cintrifuse launches 2026 Startup Fellows cohort
With over 12,000 startup jobs created locally in the last five years, Cincinnati is growing fast enough to challenge hubs like Nashville. Now, Cintrifuse is deploying a fresh 30-student cohort to ensure the region's top collegiate tech talent stays and builds in Ohio.
Cincinnati's startup ecosystem is scaling fast enough to challenge regional heavyweights like Nashville, but retaining the collegiate talent that fuels that growth remains a key bottleneck. Regional innovation hub Cintrifuse is aiming to plug that leak today by deploying 30 student entrepreneurs into its newly minted Startup Fellows Program.
Supported by the Carol Ann and Ralph V. Haile, Jr. Foundation, the highly competitive initiative drew more than 200 applications this year. The objective is straightforward: anchor rising tech talent to Southwest Ohio before they look toward the coasts.
"We know that to keep incredible talent in our region, we have to create real opportunities inside high-growth startups," said J.B. Kropp, CEO of Cintrifuse and Managing Director of Cintrifuse Capital.
By the numbers
- 32,046: Total startup-related jobs currently in the Cincinnati region.
- 12,389: New startup roles created in the last five years alone.
- $10,000: The non-dilutive grant awarded to each student in the "Builder" track.
One program, two distinct tracks
To address different entrepreneurial career paths, Cintrifuse splits the cohort into operators and founders.
1. The Startup Fellows (The Operators)
These students are embedded directly inside 13 of the region’s fastest-growing tech firms to provide scaling startups with immediate capacity while giving students institutional experience
- The Host Companies: SG Labs, Picture Health, Cloverleaf, Soundtrace, Payload, Lasoh, Flamel AI, Finopsly, Trovio, Pay Theory, LiverRight, Kernel, and OBAI.
2. The Builder Fellows (The Founders)
Rather than joining an existing team, these fellows are launching their own ventures. They receive a $10,000 equity-free grant, structured mentorship, and an acceleration curriculum.
- The initial projects span several key verticals:
- OPEF AI: An artificial intelligence assistant that compresses the environmental permitting review window from years to days.
- TissuTrak: A symptom-tracking application for chronic illness management and data sharing with healthcare providers.
- Stump: Compliance and campaign finance software built for automated filing with local Boards of Elections.
- Motiv: A centralized athletic department operations app handling scheduling, messaging, and fundraising for mid-level schools.
- Kattan: Drone defense technology optimized specifically for West African market conditions.
- AI Answered: An automation and technology literacy education platform tailored for small businesses and older adults.
The talent pipeline
While the University of Cincinnati commands the lion's share of the 2026 cohort, the program pulls talent back into the state from elite national institutions, including New York University and Vanderbilt.
The bigger picture
Cincinnati’s ability to sustain its recent job growth trajectory relies heavily on retaining its academic talent. By placing students in high-growth operators and backing early founders with non-dilutive capital, Cintrifuse is testing a model to keep intellectual property and future job creation right here in Ohio.
The bet is that the individuals building the region's next wave of distinct companies are already working in Cincinnati’s classrooms, coworking spaces, and startup offices this summer.
