The billion-dollar startup that by far has raised the most venture capital backing in Central Ohio since the 1990s had not one but two of the biggest rounds of 2018 after unofficially leading last year's pack.Root Inc. raised $51 million in March and $100 million in August. The second round set a unicorn-level valuation of $1 billion for the auto insurer powered by an app and artificial intelligence.Because of a tie on the list, the 10 largest investment amounts for the region this year went to 11 companies.Once again, out-of-state and international VC firms and hedge funds participated in the largest deals as Central Ohio technology commands more global attention. In several deals they partnered with Columbus funds NCT Ventures, Rev1 Ventures and Ikove Capital Partners.“We’ve got an incredible community here that has been planting seeds for a long time,” VentureOhio CEO Falon Donohue said in a June forum on the state of VC investing hosted by Columbus Business First.Kleiner Perkins, one of the oldest and largest Silicon Valley VC firms, led a round for Beam Dental, another digital and AI-powered insurer. Olive, formerly CrossChx Inc., also raised its biggest round yet after going all in on its software bot that automates back-office functions in healthcare and selling off its entire legacy product line. A biotech landed funding to conduct clinical trials for an opioid-free pain management system. Not that the capital shortage is solved: All of Ohio accounted for 0.6 percent of $71.6 billion in U.S. VC investments through the first nine months of this year, according to quarterly reports by PwC and CB Insights.My review last year listed the $12.7 million round for Dublin-based Updox LLC as the biggest of 2017, but Root had not yet announced it quietly raised $20 million that year.Root expects to surpass 550 employees over the next five years in its new headquarters in 80 on the Commons, a mixed-use development at Columbus Commons.Root joins CoverMyMeds as Central Ohio's billion-dollar "unicorns." The prescription management software company was acquired by McKesson Corp. last year for $1.3 billion. No other tech firm has raised so much venture capital in the region since SubmitOrder's cumulative $400 million in the 1990s.