Main Street Ventures is pleased to announce 15 companies that have received funding for their projects through the most recent round of grants. Three of these companies participated in the recently wrapped Launch It: Cincy Summer Program which brings university student founders to Cincinnati for 10-weeks to grow their businesses. The projects funded through this round range from expanding to new markets, adding product lines, and building emerging tech.
Grant Opportunities and Purpose
“The Main Street Ventures grant opportunity highlights why Cincinnati is such an incredible place for entrepreneurship.” Says Nia Baucke, Founder of Thread & Mane. “Starting a business is never without its challenges, but having a community of people and organizations that are willing to recognize and support your efforts along the way makes a huge difference. Designing and creating a beautiful space where women feel celebrated and validated is central to our success and the MSV grant will help us bring that to life.”
Main Street Ventures provides two different types of funding; Launch and Leap Grants. Launch funding provides emerging, pre-revenue businesses at the Prototype or Product stage (showing clear evidence of direct customer engagement validating the business model and product) with $5,000 – $10,000 of equity-free funding to increase the odds of reaching the Market Entry-stage and beyond. Leap funding provides promising, revenue-generating businesses with $10,000 – $30,000 of equity-free funding to scale their community impact and increase the odds of survival.
“Each quarter we see a growing demand for our programs which continuously shows the influx of new ideas in the region. We are excited to be able to support these founders who continue to make the Cincinnati Region an amazing place to live and work.” Main Street Ventures Executive Lead, Brianna Dzuricsko says.
Learn about the 15 companies that received grants in Q3 of 2022:
abba is a platform that connects individuals seeking in-home care to in-home care professionals, while providing the tools and resources to its community to book, operate, and accelerate the in-home care experience. Abba is a holistic approach taking into account the Mental, Emotional, and Physical aspects of care.
Baqette is a small, woman-owned business creating & curating leather pieces to inspire your everyday life.
BlaCkOWned™️ is a community centric brand highlighting Black Stories and promoting ownership through Fashion and Culture.
Bloxsmith empowers developers through our marketplace with the technology and community to sell their 3D model creations cross-metaverse for interoperable use in building games on Roblox, Unity, Unreal, Decentraland, Mutate, The Sandbox, among other platforms.
Bookink makes the tattoo booking experience seamless and convenient for tattoo artists and clients alike.
Cutman Barbershop is a classic barbershop providing traditional men’s grooming services whose mission is to build communities through the art of barbering and acts of service.
Dohjoy is a low-carb, low-calorie, flavorful real bread. Inside every bite is an innovative blend of ingredients that delivers traditional bread flavor and texture with virtually no carb impact or glycemic response.
In the Curious Kitchen is a female owned and founded brand creating ready-to-enjoy Southern classics, inspired by Bluegrass country.
Junebug Jewelry Designs handcrafts timeless, meaningful and unique artisan statement jewelry to honor bold, empowered women who want to walk into a room and make a powerful, lasting impression.
Obscure Euro Parts is a full service parts consignment shop helping shops, collectors and private individuals get their unwanted parts into the hands of enthusiasts who need them most.
Step Up Social is a digital marketing startup that leverages college student labor to disrupt the traditional agency model and offer services to startups typically unable to afford agency work.
Thread & Mane is a one-of-a-kind luxury experience and community space for hair braiding, beauty retail and events.
Toot Suite Press is your wedding stationery fairy godmother — we’re a wedding stationery studio offering modern, customizable designs, made with the highest-quality materials on traditional printing presses, all with an awesome, transparent online customer experience and at a price point you’ll consider money well spent.
Vale Technologies builds and designs carbon dioxide conversion devices through carbon capture to reduce greenhouse gas emissions.
Wyoming Community Coffee (WyCoCo) is a neighborhood coffee shop serving a well-cared-for beverage to a well-cared-for customer in a well-cared-for space by a well-cared-for staff, and with our new roasting expansion, we have the goal of caring well for women in the local and global coffee industry by creating long-term careers for women here in Cincinnati and sourcing specifically from women farmers and producers around the world.
“To say we are excited to be chosen as an award recipient is an understatement! Says Sara Aschliman, founder and owner of Wyoming Community Coffee. This grant allows us to continuously reach new goals alongside the exciting growth of our company. It allows us to create more careers locally and support women in coffee internationally. Thank you MSV!”
About Main Street Ventures
Main Street Ventures is working to become the community-funded initiative that makes entrepreneurship possible for everyone in Greater Cincinnati, by supporting entrepreneurs with what they need, when they need it: Capital, Connections, and Education. We look to support all good ideas and founders, but with a particular focus on women and minority entrepreneurs who have been historically underrepresented in the startup community.
For more information, visit mainstventures.org.
