Earlier this week I wrote an article about the need for some entity to step up and solve the lack of venture capital issue in Atlanta which led Mike Blake of StartupLounge to ask for a little clarification in the comments. I gave him a little there. Here's more.
Shortly after posting I recevieved an email from Merrick Furst. Merrick is a co-founder of Damballa, teachs an undergrad entrepreneurial class out of Georgia Tech's College of Computing, and is managing director of Profounder, a seed-stage investment company in which I am a partner. With a simple FYI at the beginning this is the content of his note.
Ohio Launches Tech Incubator With Fund Led By Sequoia's Kvamme
The state of Ohio is adopting a tech incubator model that has been successful for others, such as Y-Combinator and TechStars, in an initiative to inspire new business ideas and grow the state's economy.
Ohio State University's Fisher College Center for Entrepreneurship has launched 10x, an accelerator focused on the professional development of young, technology entrepreneurs. The program is made possible through capital provided by Ohio's New Entrepreneurs Fund.
The ONE Fund initiative is being spearheaded by Mark Kvamme, director of job creation for Ohio. Kvamme is also a partner at Sequoia Capital who was recruited to head JobsOhio, Gov. John Kasich's new private, economic-development corporation.
Young entrepreneurial teams will compete for 10 spots that will each receive $20,000 for business and living expenses during the 11-week development program.
NCT Ventures, a Columbus, Ohio-based venture capital firm, has already guaranteed that one team to graduate the inaugural 10x program will receive $200,000 in follow-on funding to further pursue its venture.
The participants must agree to live in Ohio for the duration of the program, and any company formed through the program must be set up in Ohio. The teams will have access to all the resources provided by the Center for Entrepreneurship, ONE Fund, NCT Ventures and the start-up community in central Ohio.
"It's a robust environment, more than you would expect from your typical Midwestern town," said Michael Camp, executive director of Center for Entrepreneurship, in Columbus, and the architect of the 10x program. "The notion that place defines how big or good a business can be is out the window.
During my time at atdc I have had two high-level strategic insights of note.
The first occurred back in 2007. I came to believe that atdc needed be more open and reach out to better serve concept and seed stage startups. This, in part, led to the strategic shift atdc began in the summer of 2009.
The second occured this week. Some entity with staying power needs to step up and systematically tackle the lack of seed and early stage funding in Georgia. To architect a program like Michael Camp put together in Ohio. A state fund, big venture capital leadership, a robust program to vet startups, and local angel/venture capital involvement.
That in, 500 words or less, is what I mean by ownership.