Highlights from StartupCincy Week 2025

Highlights from StartupCincy Week 2025

Momentum is soaring among Cincinnati's entrepreneurial community

Cincinnati's startup scene is thriving, and StartupCincy Week 2025 proved it.

From Oct. 6 to 9, Over-the-Rhine buzzed with founders, innovators and industry leaders celebrating the Queen City's rise as a national entrepreneurship hub.

Countless insights came out of StartupCincy Week, from panels giving practical tips to small business founders to sessions highlighting Cincinnati's ability to compete with the coasts. As a core component of our region's startup ecosystem, experts from the University of Cincinnati's 1819 Innovation Hub presented during the event, highlighting the building's entrepreneurial output.

Missed StartupCincy Week this year? Here are some key takeaways:

Cincinnati businesses shine

For much of the year, Cincinnati's startup scene is dispersed across various corners of our region. StartupCincy Week offers a glimpse into the full power of Southwest Ohio's entrepreneurial engine - it's not just massive; it's also thriving.

UC's 1819 Innovation Hub is the collaborative home for innovative startup ventures, multinational corporations and student talent. It hosts the Venture Lab, a startup accelerator that offers tailored mentorship and the region's largest amount of nondilutive funding for new business ventures.

Various successful Venture Lab graduate companies were spotlighted during StartupCincy Week:

Additionally, seven experts from UC, 1819 and the greater Cincinnati Innovation District were recognized for their subject matter expertise. They spoke on topics ranging from what venture capitalists look for to methods of innovating within larger firms:

• Becca Arwine and Chris Sutter: UC professors at the Carl H. Lindner College of Business explained why entrepreneurship research matters and how it's applied in the real world.
• Aaron Bradley:The founding director of UC's NEXT Innovation Scholarsprogram offered insights into the team's future forecasts and explained how business leaders can apply the findings.
• Kate Harmon:The head of UC's Center for Entrepreneurshipkicked off a session covering the benefits - including new talent - that startups get from partnering with higher education.
• Emma Off:CincyTech's CEO and president gave a candid, inside look at the life of startup investors and the world of venture capitalism.
• Tim Metzner:Fireroad Ventures' founder and CEO served as a judge for StartupCincy Week's pitch competition, where the winners earned a $200,000 prize.
• Nate Sowder:Fifth Third Bank's ecosystem innovation manager discussed intrapreneurship and ways to deliver on your startup promises.

Showcasing startup support

Throughout StartupCincy Week, attendees witnessed what happens when ambitious founders harness Cincinnati's entrepreneurial services at places like 1819. The result? Tremendous success.

Take Airtrek Robotics. Harnessing the collective power of UC's Venture Lab, which provided the startup with mentorship and seed funding, further investments by Cintrifuse Capital and the 1819 Innovation Hub, where the team was given a testing facility and built their robot, the company turned its vision into liftoff.

Chris Lee Co-founder and CEO, Airtrek Robotics

Airtrek's team specifically mentioned the ease with which they've received insights and support from others in Cincinnati's startup community. They cast doubt on whether they'd receive a similar level of guidance - or even be where they are today - in Silicon Valley, New York City or even elsewhere in the region.

"I feel very comfortable reaching out to 1819, and they're all ready to help us out like it's their own business," says Chris Lee, co-founder and CEO of Airtrek Robotics. "That has been really, really helpful for us as first-time founders … without the ecosystem's support, I don't think we'd be here."

'City as a Lab' fuels innovation

The City of Cincinnati also recently co-led an innovation challenge with the Flywheel Social Enterprise Hub to discover entrepreneurial solutions to the city's pothole problem. The program hosted its Demo Day at the 1819 Innovation Hub in late September, with the winner receiving $5,000 to further develop its fix.

Where next happens

The 1819 Innovation Hub is recognized as "Where Next Happens," but the phrase can be applied to the broader region as well. Cincinnati isn't just following the path of other leading business ecosystems; it's establishing a new, human-centric approach to innovation.

Between UC's talent and resources, collaborations with the City of Cincinnati and relationships built in the StartupCincy ecosystem, there's a new wave of innovation forming in Southwest Ohio. Entrepreneurs are leaving the coasts and finding success in Cincinnati, and StartupCincy Week offered further evidence.

Featured image at top: Presentation during StartupCincy Week 2025. Photo/Brennen Rottmueller

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The University of Cincinnati is leading public urban universities into a new era of innovation. Our faculty, staff and students are saving lives, changing outcomes and bending the future in our city's direction. Next Lives Here.

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