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Businesses can use many portals for crowdfunding, and yet relatively few CPGs and even retailers leverage this resource. A great article by Linda Martz shows how Braintree CEO Bob Cohen shared advice for using these platforms at a recent workshop. I think there is untapped opportunity, especially for smaller brands to get enough exposure to […]

MANSFIELD – Canadian teenager Simon Tan raised more than $800,000 on Kickstarter to launch his own smart watch, Neptune Pine, in late 2013.He'd set a goal of $100,000, but the allure of a wearable tech product and an interview on the Fox News Channel attracted funds from hundreds of strangers.Braintree CEO Bob Cohen told Ohio-based […]

AUSTIN, Texas--When Crestline alum and Mansfield resident Scott Gatchall entered Inmobly in the South by Southwest Accelerator competition back in October, he knew they were in for stiff competition. What he could not have predicted was that they would emerge as one of only eighteen finalists for the prestigious award. The South by Southwest (SXSW) […]

The Innovation Fund, Northeast Ohio's most active early-stage fund for technology-based startups, has injected $400,000 into seven of the region’s most promising young companies. Four companies received $25,000 awards aimed at validating technologies while three received $100,000 awards meant to prove business models. Here are the latest winners:Apollo Medical Devices ($25,000 | Cleveland) is developing […]

Don’t call it an office. The spaces home to Ohio’s incubators are more akin to beehives – honeycombs of workspaces that are fostering the ideas of the state’s brightest entrepreneurs. Walking down the hallway of an incubator, you can practically feel the creativity. Passing workspace after workspace, you are floored by the innovation and the […]

The Jessica Hannan Band rocked Braintree Business Development Center Friday afternoon with their high-energy country music. “We are a loud band,” said lead singer Jessica Hannan. “We’re not your traditional country…it’s more of a rock-country than anything.” But what’s a country-rock band doing at Mansfield’s technology-based incubator?“Although we clearly focus on high-tech startups, we try […]

In response to a community committee’s recommendation to invest resources in economic development; the Richland County Foundation is working with strategic partners to pursue opportunities in this space. The Foundation Board of Trustees engaged Jumpstart Inc. of Cleveland for a 16-week project.In this photo, Hrishue Mahalaha and Kate Hanna of Jumpstart and Steve Fritsch of […]