Ohio venture-capital investment posts gain
7/4/2009Venture-capital investment in Ohio climbed last year, while it declined nationwide.
Despite the gain, though, Ohio's share represented less than 1 percent of the venture-capital money in the country. Some say that, given the state's population and production of goods and services, its share should be larger.
The news of Ohio's gain comes from a new study by the Center for Entrepreneurship at Ohio State University's Fisher college of business.
"It's a breath of fresh air," said Michael Camp, author of the study and academic director of the Center for Entrepreneurship. A summary report was released this week.
Among the findings, which compared 2008 totals with 2007 numbers:
•Ohio had a 50 percent increase in seed and early stage investment dollars, compared with a 20 percent drop nationally.
•The number of Ohio companies receiving venture-capital investments for the first time increased by 15 percent, compared with a 10 percent drop nationally.
•Health care and biomedical sciences received the most money, with 61 companies combining to receive more than $200 million.
Several other sources confirm that Ohio's venture-capital investment rose last year, including the MoneyTree report from the National Venture Capital Association and PriceWaterhouseCoopers.
SSTI, a Westerville-based research group, conducted an analysis of the MoneyTree report to produce state-by-state totals. It showed $248 million in investment in Ohio last year, which was 0.88 percent of the national total, up from $170 million and 0.56 percent the previous year.
Ohio is one of many second-tier venture-capital destinations, said Phillip Battle, a policy analyst for SSTI. Ohio and other states trail California, which has 50 percent of the country's total.