VC Fest logs 665 founder-investor meetings in Cleveland

JumpStart Inc.’s VC Fest drew more than 900 registered attendees to the Huntington Convention Center in downtown Cleveland on Sept. 29 and 30. The group included more than 400 founders, 140 investors and 38 speakers.

“This year’s VC Fest was our biggest yet, with more founders, more investors, more one-on-one connections and an energy that was undeniable,” said Lorne Novick, CEO of JumpStart Inc.

Rachna Lather, director of commercial go-to-market strategy, led the event with Kaleigh Gallagher, vice president of tech services and network management.

By the numbers

• 900+ registered attendees over two days
• 400+ founders
• 140 investors, about 30% from outside Ohio
• 13 states represented among out-of-state investors
• 665 curated one-on-one meetings
• 200+ applications for the Demo Zone and on-stage pitches
• 40 startups selected to pitch or exhibit

Investors from 13 states, 665 meetings, and early feedback

About 30% of the investors came from outside Ohio. They traveled from New York, Illinois, Michigan, California, Massachusetts, Virginia, Indiana, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, Kansas, Oklahoma, Kentucky and Connecticut.

JumpStart set up 665 curated one-on-one meetings over the two days. Each lasted 20 minutes and paired founders with investors and corporate partners.

This year, JumpStart added a pulse-check survey question for investors and founders to its meeting dashboard. Participants have rated 193 meetings so far. Seventy-nine percent were rated positive, and 47% were marked “great fit — will follow up.”

The 2025 event drew more than 800 participants, including 298 founders and 110 investors. That year, organizers set up more than 550 one-on-one meetings, each 12 minutes long.

40 startups chosen from 200+ applications

VC Fest didn’t run a competition or give out prizes. JumpStart received more than 200 applications for the Demo Zone and on-stage pitch slots, and its internal team reviewed each one. Forty startups were chosen, spanning industries, categories and stages from across Ohio and the Midwest.

“For these startups, the biggest reward was the opportunity to pitch and showcase their companies and products to 900+ VC Fest attendees, including potential investors, strategic partners and industry leaders,” Lather explained.

Speakers and founder wellbeing

The speakers came from California, New York, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Ohio and other states. Lather noted that the programming went past funding and scaling into founder wellbeing and mental resilience.

“They brought diverse perspectives and real-world insights that sparked important conversations — not just about funding and scaling businesses, but also about founder wellbeing, mental resilience and the challenges of building companies,” Lather said.

She described Robert Smith’s keynote as a highlight. Smith is both a startup founder and an athlete, and he compared the two paths. He talked about handling transitions and setbacks, building with purpose, redefining success, and the habits, relationships and support systems that keep performance going over time.

The panels covered connecting ecosystems, building companies that last, putting new technologies into practical use and widening access to capital, Lather added.

Novick said the more important measure is what has come since the event.

“The conversations have continued, new relationships are developing and connections are turning into action,” Novick said. “That momentum is how we open doors for our companies and create meaningful outcomes for the region.”