2022 By the Numbers: Showcasing the Innovation of Ohio Startups

2022 has been a historic year for Ohio tech and entrepreneurship spaces. Companies across the Buckeye State are changing the game with record-setting metrics and milestones in innovation that are redefining the startup landscape.

These impressive metrics represent more than mere numbers — they represent lasting impact and moving the needle forward. And that impact has extended to a variety of industries from the space market to the podcast realm and health care.

Here are just a few of the many Ohio entrepreneurs and innovators that are driving growth in Ohio and beyond.

Velontra raised over $1 million in venture capital funding

In 2022, Cincinnati startup Velontra propelled its technology forward and captured the interest of investors across the country. The company achieved more than investor funding; they also solidified their spot in the modern-day space race with their hypersonic engines. Now, Velontra is poised to bring the new frontier to the masses.

“We raised over $1 million in venture capital funding, from both investors based in Ohio and Silicon Valley, and we secured over $2 million in contracts from the Air Force and Venus Aerospace,” CEO and Co-Founder Robert Keane said. “Now, we have over $400 million in letters of intent from commercial companies interested in Velontra’s technology for low earth orbit access.”

Rev1 clients reach milestone of $4 billion in startup impact

In 2019, venture capital funding and startup studio Rev1 Ventures met its goal of $2 billion in economic impact. Since then, Rev1 has more than doubled that amount of impact to more than $4 billion, according to a new report.

This combined impact since 2013 highlights the organization’s efficiency in guiding businesses to success, whether that’s through incubation, funding, mentorship or all of the above. The companies in Rev1’s portfolio span the industries of alternate energy, digital health, advanced materials and more. Since 2021, the organization has funded more than 27 companies, launched over $30 million in new capital for tech-enabled startups and created over 955 new jobs.

RE-Assist fosters more than 100 caretaker connections

For Cincinnati-based RE-Assist, 2022 was a year of building its business and broadening its health care expertise. Through Main Street Ventures, MORTAR, Black Empowerment Works through United Way, and more, the company has raised more than $70,000. Even more impressive, RE-Assist interviewed more than 100 clinicians, hospitals, and caretaker enterprises to diversify its platform’s portfolio and make care admissions more efficient.

“Customer discovery from small to medium-sized enterprises allowed us to understand different angles of health care across insurance, policy, patient needs, different levels of care, and providers,” Founder and CEO Ashley Barrow said. “The health care industry is fragmented and siloed. In order for us to build our business, we had to cast a wide net for information, experience, and expertise so the RE-Assist platform can grow as new innovations and services become available.”

Evergreen Podcasts raked in 13 million downloads

Cleveland podcast startup Evergreen Podcasts has been growing quickly since 2017, and 2022 was the company’s biggest year yet. The platform has received more than 13 million downloads, exceeding its original download goal for the year of 12 million. With more than 190 shows and partners from around the world, the company is projecting even more growth in 2023.

“To date, we have raised over $5 million to fuel our growth in the podcast space, and we have experienced explosive growth given the start to our first year in 2017 when we were only producing and distributing five podcast shows and 17,935 downloads,” CEO Michael DeAloia said. “And back in March of this year, we moved into an old radio station that we’ve acquired and repurposed for podcasts. We’re proud of this unique form of economic development of reusing an old media asset and giving it new life.”

pH Matter’s fuel cells operate at a higher pressure than any other fuel cell in the world

pH Matter hit its stride in 2022, with reversible fuel cell technology that’s garnering attention from NASA. Not only does the company make materials for energy storage applications, but its subsidiary, Power to Hydrogen, is focused on using those materials to produce and store hydrogen. Its reversible fuel cell technology can operate at 10 times higher pressure than any other in the world, making it ideal for use as a battery on the moon.

“Operating at a higher pressure allows us to operate the system with higher efficiency and energy density,” CEO and Founder Paul Matter said. “Our reversible fuel cell system has four times the energy density of a lithium-ion battery. Those are critical values for lunar missions to reduce launch mass. On Earth, we are using the high-pressure approach to generate hydrogen that can be transported more easily, and this has helped us attract investment to scale the technology and demonstrate it outside of our lab.”

JumpStart and its partners have supported more than $10.3 billion of total economic output since 2010

A report released in 2022 from the startup experts at Cleveland’s JumpStart shows that since 2010 the cumulative work from the organization and its partners has supported more than $10.3 billion of total economic output, both directly and indirectly.

Since 2021, JumpStart has impacted more than 7,000 Ohio households and supported $715 million in labor income. With help from JumpStart and its partners, tech companies under their umbrella have 825 issued patents and 679 pending patents. The capital they generate is directly and indirectly funneled back into Ohio communities through $67 million in state and local taxes, paid by their supported companies.