The meeting was supposed to last 12 minutes. It ran long. At VC Fest in 2024, Dr. Kesha Williams, founder of Cool Comforts, sat down with an angel investor couple to talk about VPod, her cold therapy device addressing an overlooked women’s health need. A few weeks later, they traveled to Cincinnati for a private fundraising gathering she hosted. Soon after, they invested.
The investment provided more than capital. It launched an ongoing relationship. One of the investors later joined Dr. Williams at the Kroger Nourishing Change Conference, meeting the team and helping engage customers and partners — the kind of open door VC Fest is designed to create. Since then, Cool Comforts has landed in 150 Walmart stores nationwide, and her brand has appeared on a billboard in Times Square. Ask Dr. Williams what those milestones mean and she will point past them: “I didn’t build VPod to create another product,” she said. “I built it to solve a problem millions of women silently endure. Walmart and Times Square are milestones, but the real success is seeing the day women finally feel seen, heard and cared for.”
From the outside, stories like that can look like coincidence — a founder meets an investor, a conversation turns into capital and momentum builds. But in a healthy innovation ecosystem, those moments are not accidental. They are designed.
That is the purpose of JumpStart VC Fest, returning to Cleveland September 29 and 30. The event brings together founders, investors, corporate leaders, policymakers and ecosystem partners from across Ohio and beyond. Last year, more than 800 participants came from 38 states and 10 countries for 550 curated one-on-one meetings. The real value is not the schedule. It is the scale and density of the room: concentrated access, created with intention, that would not happen organically in Ohio.
Founders need more than encouragement; they need capital, customers, talent, mentors and peers who help them move faster. Investors need quality deal flow. Corporations need early visibility into emerging technologies and potential partners. Civic leaders need to understand where growth is forming and how to support it.
This work matters now because Ohio has real ground to build on. The state was recently named CNBC’s No. 1 state for business in 2026, with a top 10 ranking in technology and innovation. In 2025 alone, tech startups working directly with JumpStart generated an estimated $1.4 billion in economic activity across the state. This is progress, not a finish line. It is recognition that Ohio can realize its promise if we keep doing the work to help companies start, scale and stay here.
Ohio has the ingredients: industry strength, research depth, corporate leadership, health care and manufacturing expertise, and communities that understand growth. What we must strengthen is the connective tissue among them. Regions compete when capital, customers, talent and civic commitment move together.
That is why VC Fest is part of a larger strategy to grow startup infrastructure. Some of that infrastructure is visible: accelerators, programs, investment funds and founder services. Some is less so: the hallway conversation, the lunch-line introduction, the investor who stays an extra hour because a founder has earned a second look.
If you are an investor, corporate leader, policymaker or founder, consider this your invitation. Join us at VC Fest and help create the next collision that moves Ohio forward. ●
Lorne Novick is CEO of JumpStart Inc.
