Startups Call For Renewal of Ohio Third Frontier

Startups from across the state recently testified before the Ohio House of Representatives’ Committee on Economic Development regarding the impact the Ohio Third Frontier program has had on their businesses and on the advancement of the state’s 21st Century global economy.  Three Central Ohio startups, including HTP, Inc.(now RelayHealth HTP), Minimally Invasive Devices, Inc. and InsightETE, Inc., were called upon to testify before the committee. 

“Ohio Third Frontier programs are critical to the successful formation of technology companies in the biomedical field,” testified Dr. Wayne Poll, founder and CEO of Minimally Invasive Devices, Inc, a Central Ohio medical device developer. “Medical device development is a complicated, regulatory-laden and expensive proposition.  Biomedical startups require quite a long runway.  Without the support of programs such as those funded through the Ohio Third Frontier, many of them would never get off the ground.  MID certainly wouldn’t have.”

MID holds the patents on an innovative surgical tool that maintains a clear laparoscopic lens during surgery.  The company received $600,000 from tech angel and venture capital groups from across the state that are supported by the Ohio Third Frontier. MID received an additional $448,500 in the form of a low-interest loan from the Innovation Ohio Loan Fund.

A total of $5.5 million in follow-on funding came from angel groups, side car investments and venture capital companies many of whom benefitted from the Ohio Technology Investment Tax Credit program which allows such investors to reduce their state taxes by as much as 25-30 percent of the amount they invest in technology-based Ohio companies. 

 “We anticipate our sales revenue to grow from $100,000 in 2009 to a projected $8 million in 2012. – or an estimated 10,000 units per month with all manufacturing taking place here in Ohio,” says Poll who urged the committee to support renewal of the Third Frontier at as robust a level as fiscally responsible. 

State legislators are considering various options for renewal of the Ohio Third Frontier, which was originally authorized as a bond issue in November 2005.  To date, the program has, according to a recent independent study, generated 41,300 jobs and $6.6 billion in economic activity – on an investment of $681 million in state expenditures.  The program will run out of funding in 2011.  Startup companies at various stages of formation spoke before the House Economic Development Committee last week in support of House Joint Resolution 12 (HJR12) which proposes a bond issue in the amount of $1 billion be put on the ballot for May of 2010.

For full details on HJR 12 as it goes through committee, click here
 
Read summary of testimony from HTP, Inc. founder Ray Shealy

Read summary of testimoney from InsightETE CEO R.C. Wheeless.