Ohio Capital Fund Announces Assistance to Fortieth Company

COLUMBUS, Ohio, March 12 /PRNewswire/ -- The Ohio Capital Fund today made public the funding of the fortieth Ohio company to benefit from the program.  The company, Comet Solutions Inc. recently moved its executive offices from Albuquerque, New Mexico to Cincinnati.  

"The Ohio Capital Fund's mission is to attract venture capital investment to Ohio to help grow a strong entrepreneurial ecosystem. Today's announcement shows our efforts are working," said Paul Cohn, Regional Director of Fort Washington Capital Partners Group, the manager of the Ohio Capital Fund.  "We, along with Ohio's Third Frontier Program, are building a new generation of technology-based Ohio companies and markets around the globe are taking notice."

Cohn stressed that the Ohio Capital fund does not invest directly in companies.  The Fund's mission is to attract venture capital investment to help grow Ohio companies.  It does so by providing investment capital to venture capital funds that commit to invest in Ohio companies.  In the case of Comet Solutions, The Ohio Capital Fund invested in Athenian Venture Partners (headquartered in Athens, Ohio, with a presence in both San Diego and Boston) which then invested in Comet Solutions.  The indirect investment process leverages additional private resources and builds a more robust entrepreneurial environment.  Tri-State Growth Capital Fund of Cincinnati is another Comet Solutions investor.  

"We are excited to be a part of Ohio's evolving technology environment," said Comet CEO Dan Meyer.  "Ohio was wise to establish the Third Frontier Program and the Ohio Capital Fund.  Because of this, our management team's decision to move to Ohio was obvious even over locations like Silicon Valley and along the Eastern seaboard."

Comet Solutions offers software applications that allow engineers to virtually construct and test products for design flaws.  Comet Solutions helps make sure satellites will withstand the rigors of launch and the environmental conditions of space before construction even begins which identifies potential problems early and saves precious resources.  Comet currently has seven employees in Cincinnati and expects to add more than twenty in the next two years.  The company maintains a research and development facility in Albuquerque.

Ohio has recently experienced impressive results when it comes to attracting early and seed-stage business investment.  A recent study conducted by the Ohio State University's Fisher College of Business* found that early-stage investment in Ohio increased by 50% in 2008 over the previous year.  Further impressing experts was the fact that this unprecedented expansion occurred while national averages for this stage of investment decreased by 20%.  Sectors of Ohio's economy that have proven most successful in attracting early-stage investment include specialty materials, information technology and energy with the largest gains in health care and biomedical sciences.  

*See the 2008 Venture Capital Report at: http://fisher.osu.edu/mag/2009/vcreport/

About Ohio Capital Fund

Established by the State of Ohio through legislative mandate to help increase private investment in Ohio companies in the seed or early stages of business development, The Ohio Capital Fund receives oversight from the Ohio Venture Capital Authority (OVCA). The OVCA is comprised of three members appointed by the Governor with one nominated from a slate of candidates submitted by the Speaker of the House and one selected from a slate of candidates submitted by the President of the Senate.  For more information visit: www.theohiocapitalfund.com.

To date, the Ohio Capital fund has committed funds in 21 venture capital funds 8 of which have a new presence in Ohio due to the commitment from Ohio Capita Fund.  The 21 venture capital funds and their co-investors have invested nearly $250 million in Ohio companies.  Those companies employ nearly 1,600, and have a combined annual payroll of more than $100 million.  Most of these companies remain in the early stages of development and will likely grow exponentially.   For every Ohio Capital Fund dollar invested in venture capital funds, Ohio has attracted $4.76 in venture capital to support emerging businesses.

SOURCE Ohio Capital Fund