Robert Smith headlines VC Fest speaker lineup in Cleveland
JumpStart's two-day gathering brings founders, investors and corporate leaders to the Huntington Convention Center for panels on agentic AI, industrial innovation and connected health.
Former Minnesota Vikings running back Robert Smith will keynote JumpStart's VC Fest when the two-day event returns to the Huntington Convention Center in downtown Cleveland on Sept. 29 and 30.
Smith, a Euclid native and two-time Ohio Mr. Football, founded Fan Huddle, a digital health and well-being platform. The company says it was the first player-founded business backed by the venture arm of the NFL Players Association, following a 2018 investment from the union's OneTeam Collective in Fan Health Network, which later became Fan Huddle. Smith closes the event Sept. 30 with a talk on competition, resilience and building a company.
By the numbers
- 2 days of programming
- 7 panels across both days
- 10 startup pitches on day two
- 5 Ohio cities sending speakers: Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati, Oxford and Findlay
- Sept. 7 deadline to qualify for curated meetings
Day one leans into AI
Tuesday's programming runs from the founder experience through frontier technology. Johnny Crowder of Cope Notes joins Lindsay Karas Stencel of BOLD Ventures and Daniel J. Hampu of the Burton D. Morgan Foundation for Building Without Breaking, a session on the founder journey.
The AI Equalizer panel brings together Yon Raz-Fridman of ONAÏ Fertility, former Groq chief technology officer Dinesh Maheshwari, Tyler Mantel of Roll Tack Ventures and David Boone Jr. of Ordermatic to argue that the next wave of innovation will be built well beyond Silicon Valley.
The New American Industrial Economy track pairs Casey Klein of Marathon Petroleum and Guru Vasudeva of Nationwide with Abbi Failla of EASE Logistics and Eric Girard of KeyBank. Later sessions include Beyond the Hype, on building AI companies that last, with Rehgan Bleile of AlignAI, Paul Powers of Physna, Stephen McHale of Graici and Ray Bohac of Spearfish, followed by Chris Thomas of YNDR on agentic AI.
Day two turns to health
Wednesday opens with a Women in Tech Breakfast and moves into The Connected Health Ecosystem, featuring Brett Hudspeth of Humana, Nicholas Archer of Cincinnati Children's Hospital, Melissa Cohen of University Hospitals Ventures, Brian Rosnov of Apricity Robotics and Warren Templeton of Health2047.
The Innovation Flywheel panel follows, with Kaleigh Gallagher of JumpStart, Tim Holcomb of Embarc Collective, Suraj Maraboyina of Miami University and Nick Barendt of NEO-SMART on how corporations, startups and capital combine to produce new companies. Ten startups pitch over lunch.
Deals are the point
The panels sit alongside startup showcases, a demo zone, an investor happy hour and a networking reception, all feeding the event's centerpiece: curated one-on-one Venture Connections, Investor Connections and Corporate Connections. Founders and investors have to register to be considered for those meetings.
"Whether you're raising a round, looking for your next investment or just trying to understand where founders and funders are seeing opportunity, VC Fest is about creating the conversations and connections that move businesses and our region forward," said Lorne Novick, CEO of JumpStart, who delivers the opening welcome.
Speakers are traveling in from Georgia, Florida, Texas, California, Massachusetts and Illinois alongside the Ohio contingent, which Gallagher framed as evidence of wider interest in what is happening across the Midwest.
"This lineup includes people who are living that story firsthand, legacy industries partnering with startups, corporates and capital converging around the same opportunities," Gallagher noted. "That's the kind of real-world insight founders, investors and dealmakers don't often get in one place."
Tonjia Coverdale, a technology executive and three-time CXO, emcees. VC Fest has premier support from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation and presenting support from Thompson Hine LLP, with additional sponsorship from KeyBank, JobsOhio Ventures, JumpStart Ventures, Big Kitty Labs, Project Medtech, University Hospitals Ventures and Taft Law. Registration and the current agenda are at OhioVCFest.com.
