CLEVELAND--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Flashstarts, Inc., a startup accelerator, is pleased to announce the launch of The Cleveland200, a $5 million micro-venture fund focused on high-growth startups.
The Cleveland region has recently witnessed the launch of a new group of seed stage funds totaling over $100 million. The focus of the Flashstarts accelerator program and the Cleveland200 fund is to equip startups for follow-on investment from this $100 million regional investment pool over the next 3 years.
This $100 million in newly available funding is the result of the Ohio Third Frontier Program’s recent commitment to seven Cleveland-area funds focused on seed-stage investment. This is the largest regional seed-stage investment pool in the world. The funds are to be deployed between 2017 and 2019. With an average of $500,000 per investment there will be about 200 seed stage companies that will receive funding. These 200 startups will receive the support and funding they need to build successful companies that will generate wealth, jobs, and transform the Cleveland Region.
"The overnight 10x increase in local seed funding has created huge demand for quality startups. To meet that demand we are expanding our fund and accelerator program", said Flashstarts CEO Charles Stack. “We are already seeing great results: Flashstarts portfolio teams ReMesh and Complion have recently closed $2.25M and $2.9M investment rounds respectively."
"Flashstarts has shown the ability to recruit and prepare very high-quality teams," said Todd Federman, Managing Director of the North Coast Angel Fund, one the largest angel funds in the US; and one of the recipients of Ohio Third Frontier funds. "We look forward to investing in additional companies in the near future."
Startup applications are open now at www.cleveland200.com, and teams will be selected on a rolling basis over the next three years. Flashstarts will initially invest $25,000 - $50,000 in each company in its program in exchange for 4-8% equity.
"We are looking for dynamic teams with really big ideas," said Shannon Lyons, Flashstarts, COO. "We will accept companies from all over the U.S. and the world. We offer specialized programs to accommodate global companies, and international entrepreneurs coming out of universities."
Global Cleveland is partnering with Flashstarts on this initiative, the Global Entrepreneur in Residence Program. Global Cleveland will assist international entrepreneurs in relocating to Cleveland.
Startups can apply right now at www.cleveland200.com/apply.
About Flashstarts
Flashstarts is a Cleveland-based startup accelerator and micro-venture fund focused on big, disruptive ideas in healthcare IT, enterprise SaaS, data & analytics, IoT, AI & machine learning, FinTech and other yet-to-be-named software innovations. We operate a 35,000 sq. ft. co-working space, where we run the Global EIR visa program, startup Labs program, our startup investment fund, 12-week accelerator, and host the Cleveland200 diligence platform. For more information visit www.flashstarts.com and www.cleveland200.com. Twitter: @flashstarts. Facebook: www.facebook/flashstarts.
