The Idea Pitch

Alexander Angney - ALHFR Gift Boxes
 

Larjae Cohen - J. Emerald Essentials
 

Raleigh Flanagan - Reflective Spaces
 

Cliford Fumbui - Chop Jollof
 

Marisa Jackson - The Sexiest Thing Alive has Arrived
 

Hannah Tyson - Koda's Kamp, LLC
  

Jasmine Williams - Melodic Braids
 

Nisha Chaurasia, Ajeet Kumar Sandela, Lokesh Jetangi, Shefali Gupta and Sofiya Ibrayeva - Mark & Park
  

Sara Gallimore and Nick Gallimore - iHungry 
 

Sannidhi Patel and Hetu Patel - Door Step Delivery Services
 

2023 JUDGES

Bill Baumel - Managing Director, Ohio Innovation Fund
Bill Baumel is a seasoned venture capitalist who spent more than 20 years investing in Silicon Valley before returning to his home state to found the Ohio Innovation Fund in 2016. OIF has already returned a majority of the fund, with the most recent exit, the merger of Stirling Ultracold and BioLife Solutions (NASDAQ: BLFS), currently valued at over $2 billion. 

Joelle Brock - Co-Founder, President & CEO, Leading EDJE
Leading EDJE delivers IT strategy and custom technology solutions to solve the most complex of business issues, with no two solutions alike. Before launching Leading EDJE in 2007, Joelle spent 14 years with Software Architects (SARK), building a local practice while starting and supporting 11 other offices across the nation. Joelle is an alumnus of Accenture and first began her IT consulting career in 1990 with AGS Information Services, a NYNEX Corporation. Prior to the IT Industry, Joelle put her Communications/Journalism degree to use as an ABC field reporter and on-air radio personality.

Faith Voinovich - Principal, Ohio Innovation Fund
Faith Voinovich serves as a key member of the investment team at Ohio Innovation Fund. She has led investments spun out of top research institutions, assisted companies in raising tens of millions in follow on funding, and served in a variety of board director, board advisor, and board observer roles, including at Invirsa, Clarametyx, Genetesis, DatAnchor, Complion (merged with RealTime CTMS), and Stirling Ultracold (exited to BioLife Solutions, NASDAQ: BLFS). In addition to her investment work, Faith is passionate about making venture capital more accessible, especially to demographics underrepresented across the industry. She's a founding mentor for VentureForward's Mentor Forward program, leads the OIF Student Experience Program (SEP), and serves as a College Coach for Breakthrough New York. Faith received the Rising Star Award from the National Venture Capital Association in 2023.

Sandra Volpe - Director, Board of Directors of Republic Services (NYSE: RSG)
Sandra Volpe, MBA is an accomplished senior executive with strategic, financial, and operating experience and is a qualified financial expert. Since 2016, she has served as an independent Director on the Board of Directors of Republic Services (NYSE: RSG), serving on the Finance, Nominating and Corporate Governance, and Sustainability and Corporate Responsibility committees. Passionate about health, education, leadership development, DEI and entrepreneurship, Volpe is the Chair of the Board of the American Heart Association for the Eastern States Region, Chair of the National Advisory Board of Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship and a National Trustee on the Board of Trustees of Kent State University. Until retiring in June 2022, Volpe was Senior Vice President, Strategic Planning, Communications and Business Development Solutions at FedEx (NYSE: FDX; market cap $40Bn). Prior to that, she held a series of positions as VP, Strategic Planning, VP, Finance, and Managing Director, Finance at FedEx with a reputation as a strong leader with broad capabilities to advise and influence at all levels of an organization on corporate finance, capital budgets, strategic planning, M&A, business development, marketing, and communications.

ABOUT THE IDEA PITCH

Pitch Your Idea for Funding

The Kent State Ambassador Crawford College of Business and Entrepreneurship’s John S. and Marlene J. Brinzo Center for Entrepreneurship is now offering a fall pitch competition for students who have an idea. The CEBIdea competition creates an opportunity for students to receive mentoring and feedback on their business idea, as well as win seed money. Ten finalists pitch to a panel of judges. All finalists will win a cash prize, and the first-place winner will earn a guaranteed spot as Spring Pitch finalist.

 

 

Presenting Sponsor:
 

 

Ohio Innovation Fund (OIF) is a venture capital firm based in Columbus, Ohio whose member institutions include Kent State University, The Ohio State University and Ohio University. The OIF team has turned ideas into over $10 billion of market value, including several Initial Public Offerings and acquisitions by SAP, Medtronic, Dell, Intuit and Stryker. OIF's companies have been featured in prominent media outlets such as CNN, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal. Many Fortune 500 companies and leading universities are customers of OIF’s portfolio, and their strategic partners include Microsoft, Facebook, Citi and SAP, among others. Combined revenue growth was approximately 100 percent between 2016 and 2017 for OIF’s portfolio.

Bill Baumel oversees all operations of The Ohio Innovation Fund (OIF), a venture capital firm based in Columbus, Ohio. OIF has the largest early-stage venture capital portfolio of Ohio-based companies. Member institutions include Kent State University, The Ohio State University and Ohio University. OIF’s companies have been featured in prominent media such as CNN, Forbes and The Wall Street Journal. Many of the Fortune 500 and leading universities are customers of OIF’s portfolio companies, and their strategic partners include Microsoft, Facebook, Citi, and SAP, among others. Combined revenue growth was approximately 100% between 2016 and 2017 for OIF’s portfolio.

Turning "Bold Ideas" into thriving enterprises is what OIF partners with entrepreneurs to accomplish. One such bold idea was from a diabetic, who each night worried that they might not wake up in the morning because their glucose levels may go too low overnight, and the only diabetic testing was periodic finger pricks. Out of that bold idea came Dexcom and its continuous glucose monitor, which provides a glucose reading to diabetics' mobile devices every five minutes. A great step forward for diabetics, and a company now worth over $10 billion. This could be you! 

OIF fosters commercialization efforts at KSU, OSU, and OU through appointments to university's Accelerator Award Committees, sponsoring internship programs, career linkage among member schools’ students/alumni and OIF companies, speaking engagements, mentoring of faculty members, incubating faculty start-ups, and guest course, panel, and business plan competition participation. 

With more than twenty years of experience investing in Silicon Valley, and close ties with a significant network of key Silicon Valley leaders, Bill has spent his career investing in venture capital-backed emerging growth companies. Awarded Venture 100 status as one of the top 100 VC’s in the United States, with successful exits via multiple Initial Public Offerings and acquisitions by companies such as Medtronic, Dell, SAP, Intuit, and Stryker. Areas of focus include SaaS, Big Data, Cyber Security, Med Tech, and Advanced Manufacturing. Having served as a CEO, COO and CFO of successful public and private companies, he understands what it takes to build and scale a leading company in a high growth market. 

Learn More | Ohio Innovation Fund

Contact Us
 

Linda Hale - Marketing Manager of The Brinzo Center

Phone: 330-672-7890
Email: lhale9@kent.edu 
 

Shawn Rohlin Ph.D. - Director of The Brinzo Center, Professor of Economics

Phone: 330-672-1098
Email: srohlin@kent.edu
 

Nick Petrella - Entrepreneur in Residence

Phone: 330-672-5826
Email: npetrel3@kent.edu