Collisions and Capital: How JumpStart and Lorne Novick are accelerating Ohio’s startups

Most people hear “venture conference” and think panels, pitches, and cocktail hours. But for Lorne Novick, Interim CEO of JumpStart, the idea behind Ohio VC Fest is much bigger: creating the kinds of collisions between founders and funders that can reshape companies—and Ohio’s economy.

To Novick, Ohio VC Fest (September 16th and 17th in Cleveland) is far more than a date circled on the calendar. It’s where investors from across Ohio—and well beyond—get their first look at the state’s most promising startups, where entrepreneurs land meetings that might otherwise take months to arrange, and where Cleveland’s innovation community shows off its full energy and ambition.

That atmosphere captures JumpStart’s broader mission: to make sure capital, services, and opportunity don’t just exist in Ohio, but move through it in ways that help entrepreneurs grow faster, scale smarter, and compete on a national stage.

Building connections that matter

Now entering its third year, VC Fest has become one of the Midwest’s must-attend gatherings for startups and investors. This year’s event, September 16th and 17th at the Huntington Convention Center, reflects Novick’s focus on scale and impact.

• National reach: Investors and founders from outside Ohio are flying in, putting Cleveland and the state on the map.

• AI spotlight: A keynote and dedicated panel on investing in artificial intelligence, aligning with one of the hottest sectors.

• Startup World Cup: Cleveland is a regional host, with one Ohio startup advancing to San Francisco for a shot at $1M.

• Trailblazer accelerator pitches: Cohorts in health tech and software showcase local founders, each backed with capital and resources.

It’s a formula designed for collisions. Last year, a casual lunch-line conversation between a Cleveland founder and a visiting New York investor led to a seven-figure raise within weeks. “That’s the impact attendees were looking for,” Novick said.

Redefining entrepreneurial services

Novick’s priorities as Interim CEO go beyond one event. He’s reshaping JumpStart’s service model to meet the evolving needs of founders statewide:

• Scaling support so entrepreneurs from across the state get the same access to capital and expertise.

• Diversifying funding by attracting national VCs while cultivating corporate and philanthropic dollars.

• Reimagining service delivery to be more flexible, accessible, and founder-first.

“The accelerator is really the union of what JumpStart is at its core. Services, access to capital, and connections,” Novick explained. “It’s about helping founders grow further, faster”

A career rooted in innovation

Novick’s path to JumpStart wasn’t linear. He’s served as legal counsel for the Cleveland Browns, where he negotiated partnerships and even led projects in emerging football technologies. Later, he ran operations for a startup in performance-driven sports apparel and taught law at Cleveland-Marshall College of Law.

That eclectic background—law, sports, startups, academia—gave him a rare mix of agility and authenticity. “If you’re passionate about emerging technologies, you can find that passion in any environment,” he reflected.

The big picture

For Novick, JumpStart’s mission is both simple and ambitious: make Ohio the best place in the country to start and scale a business.

“We can organize panels and pitches,” he said. “But it’s the organic conversations, those unexpected collisions, that create the real momentum.”

With VC Fest as a catalyst and JumpStart evolving under his leadership, Novick is betting that Ohio founders don’t need to look east or west for opportunity. Increasingly, the opportunities are right here.