UC Venture Lab - Founders and Friends: End of Year Celebration
Founders & Friends: Year-End Happy Hour
This year, the UC Venture Lab's founders did the hard part. They validated problems, built prototypes, landed pilots, raised capital, and hired their first employees. Join us to celebrate the founders, mentors, Executives in Residence, investors, and partners who made it a year of great work.
Why we're gathering outside 1819
The 1819 Innovation Hub is where many of our companies start. More and more of them are also leaving it, and that's the point. Our startups are growing out of the co-working desk and the Makerspace bench and into labs, offices, and production space across the Cincinnati Innovation District.
That's why we're hosting this year's celebration at Digital Futures, one of the district's anchors for research in emerging technology. The district is where university research, corporate partners, and startups share the same few blocks. Discoveries can move from lab to license to launch without leaving the neighborhood.
It's also where our thesis plays out. Health tech companies build on UC's medical and clinical expertise. Deep tech and AI startups spin out of the Office of Research and our engineering and computing programs. Hard tech founders design advanced materials, aerospace, and manufacturing solutions they can prototype and scale here. The Innovation District gives these companies a place to grow up, not just start up.
What to expect
Drinks and bites, highlights from this year's founders, and a look at what's next for the Venture Lab and the district. Most of all, it's a chance to connect with the people building Cincinnati's innovation economy.
Who should come
Venture Lab founders and alumni, UC faculty and researchers, mentors and EIRs, investors, corporate partners, and friends of the Cincinnati Innovation District.
📅 Wednesday, October 28th
🕔 4:00 - 6:00 PM
📍 Digital Futures Building, 3080 Exploration Ave, Cincinnati, OH 45206
🅿️ On-Site Parking Garage or Surface Lot at 1819 Innovation Hub
Space is limited. RSVP to save your spot, and bring a founder friend who should know us.
Questions? Contact Ben Booker, Venture Analyst (bookerbc@ucmail.uc.edu)