St. Louis VC firm seeking more Columbus investments as first company speeds growth

Story excerpt provided by Columbus Business First.

Written by Carrie Ghose.

An out-of-state venture capital firm is close to investing in more Columbus-area startups after watching its first investment here become one of the fastest-growing in its portfolio.

St. Louis, Missouri-based Lewis and Clark Venture Capital LLC led a $5.5 million round over the summer in Beam Dental, which pairs employer-based dental insurance with data from its smart toothbrushes. (The deal wasn’t announced until October.)

Ron Watson, principal with the $104 million fund who managed the investment, has been making monthly trips to Columbus since joining Beam’s board. Each time, he tries to schedule a coffee or other meeting with startups and VC investors. The firm sees many promising prospects in Central Ohio, he said, and has entered early stages of due diligence with one.

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Originally published January 11, 2018.