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What is Tim Draper of Draper Fisher Jurvetson Venture Capital doing in Ohio?

Tim Draper carries a lot of weight in the venture capital industry. Coming from a legacy of VCs along with successes like Hotmail in his portfolio http://www.dfj.com/ he deserves to be taken seriously. When Draper decided to come to Cincinnati to provide the keynote address at the Innovest Venture Conference the main question in the audience was; Why Ohio?

Author: J. Christian Phillips American Venture Capital Exchange

http://www.avce.com/feature_article_more.php?article_id=91

“We are wrong a lot of the time, but when we are right it makes up for all the past wrongs,” said Draper at the May 13th event. “I feel Ohio is poised for a lot of rights.”

One core reason that Tim Draper feels Ohio is a viable market for new companies is easily illustrated by the technology presenting companies displayed. Boasting nearly 30 companies in total the conference showed that start-ups were ready to bloom in Ohio.

One of those companies is Synapse Biomedical which enrolled Superman as its first adopter. Christopher Reeves uses their technology to breath without a ventilator. “It is easy for us to get attention with such a high profile user,” said Anthony Ignagni, President of Synapse.

Synapse develops, manufactures, sells, and supports life-changing minimally invasive neurostimulation devices used in the diagnosis and treatment of people with neurological impairments. Basically it can stimulate the diaphragm of patients who would normally need mechanical help to breath. “We have a long waiting list of potential end users, and we just need some investment to further our FDA approvals and get in the market,” said Ignagni.

Another company making moves is OptiCast, Inc. The company has developed an eyeglass lens molding system that can cast eyeglass lenses directly to prescription in less than 5 minutes and is suitable for production of 92% of the prescriptions needed worldwide.

One of OptiCast first major customers is the U.S. Army which is utilizing OptiCast in Afghanistan. “This conference gives us a great opportunity for to meet potential investors that will help us keep up with our growth,” said Duane Wires founder of OptiCast.

Conferences should be measured on the quality of companies presenting, and also the quality of investor present. With Innovest, neither one of those parts were missing. Cincinnati and Ohio as a whole seem to be poised for growth in the tech start-up market; just ask Tim Draper.

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