​​our participants

​​our team

testimonials

media

OVERView

NEOSVF is a 501(c)(3) student run organization that funds high-growth potential, startups in Northeast Ohio in the areas of

• Advanced Materials
• Medical Technology
• Fuel Cells
• Energy Storage​

• Software Applications
• Sensing and Automation Technologies
• Medical Technology

• Situational Awareness Systems
• Surveillance Systems Solar and Photovoltaics

 

Our participants

 

Board and executives

President - Dr. George Newkome, PhD. Vice President of Research Emeritus, University of Akron

Executive Director Daniel Hampu J.D., M.B.A. Project Manager University of Akron Research Foundation

Vice President - Kenneth Preston, J.D. Associate Vice President for Research and Director of Technology Transfer, University of Akron

Treasurer - Mary Ellen Hinkle, CPA Director of Accounting University of Akron Research Foundation

Bill Leamon, M.B.A., M.O.D., M.H.R., Professor of Marketing & Entrepreneurship, Notre Dame College and Director of the Business Of Good Foundation

Dr. Gopal Nadkarni, PhD. Assistant Professor and Proof-of-Concept Director, University of Akron

Michael Goldberg Assistant Professor Design and Innovation, Case Western Reserve University

Dr. Peter Abramo, PhD., Director of the Center for Entrepreneurship, College of Wooster

Dr. Shawn Rohlin, PhD., Associate Professor, Director for Center of Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation

Michelle Spain Associate Professor, Walsh University DeVille School of Business

 

TESTIMONIALS
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​"As a founder, you need people that understand entrepreneurship and are willing to support the winding road. NEOSVF gets it!  Their early support kept us alive, helped us attract other investment, and their line of questioning has helped me advance the business to places I only dreamed imaginable."

- ELIJAH STAMBAUGH, CEO OF THE LEARNING EGG

"Wastebits would like to thank NEOSVF for their investment in our future. The NEOSVF provided us the needed funding to be able to accelerate our growth in 2014. Without their help, Wastebits would not be where we are today. While the financial assistance was critical, NEOSVF and the University of Akron Research Foundation have provided valuable resources that have greatly contributed to our success thus far.”

- DAN COLLINS, FOUNDER AND CEO OF WASTEBITs

“NEOSVF has been a tremendous asset for us in launching our controls product line.  The financial and networking assistance from the Student Venture Fund and other NE Ohio organizations are great resources that should be used by all early stage companies in the area.”

- JULIAN LAMB, PRESIDENT OF PARAGON ROBOTICS, LLC

​"NEOSVF is a great experience for students and a valuable resource for entrepreneurs. The debates were lively, the companies were innovative and the collective intelligence of the group was impressive. I wouldn't be on my current career path but for NEOSVF and I'm thankful for the great opportunity."

- DANN BRUNO, VENTURE ANALYST AT REV1 VENTURES

 

MEDIA
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NEOSVF in Crain's Cleveland!

NEOSVF ANNOUNCES INVESTMENT IN APOLLO MEDICAL DEVICES

The Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund (NEOSVF) Board of Directors has approved an investment of $25,000 in Apollo Medical Devices, a rapid testing method for blood analysis. Apollo Medical Devices is developing technology designed to provide physicians with information about a patient’s condition from a single drop of blood. The rapid testing method takes blood directly without needing a vein, and is cheaper, faster, and requires less testing material than current diagnostics. 

investment fund provides learning experience for students

Students benefit most from real-world experience in the startup process. The Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund (NEOSVF) is a prime example of an experiential model that is working for graduate students. Acting as investors, students participating in the NEOSVF learn what venture capitalists and industry investors look for when making investment decisions. As students take companies through an intensive due diligence process, they learn to appreciate the perspective from “the other side of the table” and apply this first-hand experience to their own future companies or startups.

- Burton D. Morgan Foundation February 2015​

NEOSVF sees early returns at university of akron: the mix

After investing in a handful of early-stage companies, a student startup booster at the University of Akron is seeing the first fruits of due diligence.
On Wednesday, the Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund accepted a check for $25,000 from Wastebits, an Akron company that designs software for the waste management industry. The check was presented with some fanfare at a meeting of the ARCHAngels Network at Quaker Square. It heralded the first return on a NEOSVF investment.

- Robert L. Smith, The Plain Dealer/Cleveland.com, February 2015​

fun is just starting for venture fund

The Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund has generated its first profit: $833.33. For the first time, the fund — which is run by graduate students at six local colleges — received a check from one of the companies in its investment portfolio last week. A waste management software company called Wastebits borrowed $25,000 from the Student Venture Fund in April. If the Akron-based company had held on to the money, it would have eventually converted into equity, giving the fund an ownership stake in Wastebits. Instead, the company decided to pay it back early, with interest.

- Chuck Soder, Crain's Cleveland Business, February 2015

students get paid back for smart investment

"If it weren’t for the $25,000 loan Wastebits received last year from the Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund (NEOSVF), the burgeoning local startup might not exist. Instead, the 18-employee company, which produces software that organizes waste disposal for generators, transporters and waste management, is turning profits. Wastebits is even able to pay back its $25,000 NEOSVF loan, and did so at the ARCHAngels Investment Network meeting Feb. 18 at Quaker Station on The University of Akron campus.

 “The NEOSVF provided us the needed funding to be able to accelerate our growth in 2014. Without their help, Wastebits would not be where we are today,” says Dan Collins, its founder and CEO.

- University of Akron Press Release, February 2015

notre dame college students win startup funds for high tech business competition

The Student Venture Fund at Notre Dame College, also known as NDC Shark Tank, a chapter of the Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund (NEOSVF), has won $25,000 in startup funds for its selection: GiveNext LCC. The winning presentation team from Notre Dame is comprised of seniors Vanessa Matthes and Jamie Robinson, and supported in-person by fellow "Senior Sharks" Tawnia Almaraz, Suzanne Morris, Sarah Weyer and Ian Dawson. The students won support for GiveNext from the College’s Student Venture Fund and entrepreneurship club, called NDCe, and endorsed GiveNext before NEOSVF as part of the accelerator’s spring funding cycle.

- Notre Dame College Press Release, January 2015

tech czar talk: schools could learn a lesson from this new technology (lightning grader spotlight)

After Stambaugh developed the software, he then began to raise capital. To date, he has received the Innovation Fund Grant A ($25,000) from Glide (www.glideit.org) based at Lorain County Community College, University of Akron Student Ventures Fund ($25,000), an additional Innovation Fund Grant B ($100,000) also from Glide and an additional investment by Hatch (www.hatch.us.com), a Cleveland-based technology coaching and investment fund headed by Christopher Celeste and Blake Squires.

- Cleveland.com, July 2014

kent state center for entrepreneurship partners with Neosvf

“We are excited to establish the Kent State University chapter of the Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund,” said Sergey Anokhin, Ph.D., interim director of the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation at Kent State’s College of Business Administration. “This offers unique educational opportunities to students interested in entrepreneurship and venture financing."
"The opportunity to host a Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund chapter at the College of Business Administration fits with the Center for Entrepreneurship and Business Innovation’s outreach mission and benefits both Kent State students and entrepreneurs in our region,” said Deborah F. Spake, Ph.D., dean of Kent State’s College of Business Administration.

- Kent State University Press Release, April 2014

neosvf is awarder burton D. Morgan foundation grant

The Burton D. Morgan Foundation Board of Trustees awarded a grant of $125,000 to the Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund (NEOSVF) to continue to help grow technology companies in the region. The funding matches $125,000 provided through the Ohio Third Frontier Commission’s Pre-seed Fund Capitalization Program, giving the NEOSVF access to a total of $250,000 to be invested in high-tech, high-growth companies that meet the State of Ohio’s definition of its primary industry focus. Deborah Hoover, President of The Burton D. Morgan Foundation, noted “The Foundation is excited to support this innovative means of engaging talented students in the startup process while simultaneously providing funds to help fledgling businesses grow.  We expect NEOSVF to be a win-win for students and startups.”​

- Burton D. Morgan Pipeline Newsletter, March 2014

student run venture fund receives $250,000 for investments

"Student-run venture fund located at the University of Akron now has $250,000 to invest in start-up businesses and plans to add chapters from other universities. The Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund has received a $125,000 grant from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation in Hudson. That provided the necessary match for the fund to receive a $125,000 grant from the Ohio Third Frontier Commission."

- The Plain Dealer, February 2014

students get experiences with startup investing through student venture fund

"Student-run venture fund located at the University of Akron now has $250,000 to invest in start-up businesses and plans to add chapters from other universities. The Northeast Ohio Student Venture Fund has received a $125,000 grant from the Burton D. Morgan Foundation in Hudson. That provided the necessary match for the fund to receive a $125,000 grant from the Ohio Third Frontier Commission."

- Burton D. Morgan Foundation, February 2013

building the ohio innovation economy: early stage finance and entrepreneurship in ohio

"A Strong Interest From Students: An interesting development of ARCHAngel is the strong interest it has drawn from students. About 125 people attend the quarterly meetings, and of those typically about 50 are students from across northeast Ohio. “The educational experience these students get is quite important,” Dr. Rosenbaum said. “We’ve even spun off a student venture fund which is now expanding beyond the University of Akron into northeast Ohio.”"

- National Research Council, 2013 Publication

support for akron/canton entrepreneurs

The University of Akron is one of the biggest proponents of local entrepreneurs. The University of Akron’s Research Foundation (UARF) undergoes cutting edge research and invests time and money to build, attract, and retain high tech companies locally, including sponsoring technological research. The Akron Regional Change Angels (ARCHAngels) helps to present technologies and ideas from local start-up companies to investors and business professionals who can help to fund those ideas and take them to the next level. The Student Venture Fund at the University of Akron conducts due diligence of early stage companies, provides some micro funding, and helps connect those companies to additional funding resources.

- Office Space Working.com, August 2012