Jennifer Hankins Starts as President and CEO of Rev1 Ventures

Jennifer Hankins started as president and chief executive officer (CEO) of Rev1 Ventures on Sept. 14. She replaces Tom Walker in running the Columbus venture development nonprofit. Hankins comes to Rev1 from Tulsa, Oklahoma, where she worked with Tulsa Innovation Labs (TIL). TIL won federal Build Back Better and Tech Hubs awards. Her family is relocating to Central Ohio.

Walker is now executive chairman of the Rev1 Ventures board. He remains CEO of R1 Capital, the venture capital firm that spun out from Rev1 in June, and will stay involved with Rev1 on capital strategy. Day-to-day leadership, he said, "is hers now."

By the numbers

• 1,700+: Startups Rev1 has supported since 2013
• $7.74 billion: Estimated total economic impact generated by Rev1 client companies
• 2,800+: Estimated number of people those companies employ
• $200 million+: Assets under management at R1 Capital

Why she chose Rev1 and Columbus

Hankins pointed to Rev1's track record as a main reason she took the job. "Rev1's impact speaks for itself, and it's the kind of track record that gets noticed nationally," she said.

She explained that her approach to economic development is the same in Columbus as it was in Tulsa. A region's innovation economy grows out of what it already does well, and her job is to help those strengths grow faster. She noted that Rev1 already works this way by investing in local entrepreneurs and the startup community Columbus already has.

"Columbus knows what it wants to be, and it's building the best version of itself," Hankins said. "That's the same opportunity I saw in Tulsa: a region with real assets, real institutional muscle, and the will to go after what's next. I want to help write that next chapter."

The move also brings her back to the Midwest, and her family is relocating to Central Ohio. "I'm a Kansas City native, so the Midwest is home," she said. "Coming here feels like a return to the place, and the values, I come from."

What she learned in Tulsa

Hankins credits TIL's federal awards to the partners who worked together to win them. She noted that the effort brought together philanthropy, government, entrepreneurs and innovators, major corporations, universities and tribal nations to build a strategy for making the region globally competitive.

"The wins were the outcome, but the lesson is what produced them, which is the power of a coalition," she said.

Hankins sees the same kinds of partners in Central Ohio. "Central Ohio already has those ingredients, and it has the habit that matters most: showing up together," she said.

First-year priorities

Hankins listed three priorities for her first year, in this order:

• Listening to Rev1's team, portfolio founders and partners to build on the progress already made
• Building stronger connections among founders, investors, companies and institutions
• Promoting Central Ohio as a hub for innovation and entrepreneurship

She noted that Rev1's impact already reaches beyond Columbus. She wants to connect more founders, investors, companies and institutions across Ohio, and to promote Central Ohio and Ohio nationally.

"The regions doing this work well make sure their story gets told, and we have a great one to tell," she said.

Rev1 at The Peninsula

Hankins described Rev1 at The Peninsula, the downtown Columbus innovation hub Rev1 opened this year, as proof that Columbus is investing in itself. Rev1's team and coworking space for early-stage startups are on the first floor. R1 Capital and flexible office space for growth-stage companies are on the second floor. The setup puts founder support, investors and other founders in one building.

"That proximity is what moves a founder faster - from a first conversation, to a customer introduction, to a term sheet," she commented.

"All of it rests on partnership," Hankins added. She credited the City of Columbus and Downtown Columbus Inc. (DCI) with helping build the space. She also pointed to Rev1's partnerships with Nationwide Children's Hospital and The Ohio State University as the kind of long-term relationships that keep a startup community strong.

The board's search

Walker explained that the board ran a national search for a leader with experience in entrepreneurship, economic development, building startup communities and working across sectors.

"Jennifer's experience doing exactly that in Tulsa really shone through during the search and impressed the board," he said.

Walker listed what Rev1 has done since 2013: supported more than 1,700 startups, opened Rev1 at The Peninsula this year and spun out R1 Capital. "This is real proof that the model works and that Columbus can compete nationally," he said.

He added that the next phase will require the same partnership-building Hankins did in Tulsa, including advocacy for state programs.

"There's going to be a lot of advocacy needed around what comes next for programs like Ohio Third Frontier, and for keeping Ohio on a growth trajectory that supports both innovative startups and the research base behind them," Walker said. "Jennifer is exactly the right person to lead that work forward."