Greater Cleveland Partnership Announces Investment in New $20M JumpStart Fund

To support the growth of Northeast Ohio’s entrepreneurial ecosystem, The Greater Cleveland Partnership (GCP) announced a limited-partner investment in JumpStart's new for-profit $20M venture capital fund. Co-investing alongside other VCs and private-sector investors, the JumpStart NEXT Fund will invest in Ohio-based companies that need to raise $2 million to $8 million in private capital to continue their growth.

GCP is a membership association of companies and organizations in Northeast Ohio, serving as the region’s chamber of commerce for the region. In 2001, GCP helped create Northeast Ohio’s regional economic development system, which includes JumpStart, a venture development organization tasked with supporting entrepreneurs and growing companies.

Currently, JumpStart operates a nonprofit Evergreen Fund that invests seed capital in high potential Northeast Ohio companies and matches them with an experienced Entrepreneur-in-Residence. Earlier this month, the city of Cleveland and three private developers announced their plans to invest in JumpStart’s Evergreen Fund. According to Crain’s, the Cleveland Foundation would invest $500,000, the three developers would each invest $100,000, and the city is seeking approval from the city council to invest $200,000. The $1 million in combined funds would be used as a 1-to-1 match in pursuit of funds from Ohio Third Frontier.