The O.H.I.O. Fund Research
Investment Thesis
The O.H.I.O. Fund is a "place capital" investor: a multi-asset, multi-sector private investment vehicle built to deploy capital exclusively into Ohio-based opportunities. Rather than optimizing purely for financial returns within a single sector, the fund's stated mission is to strengthen Ohio's economic future by keeping investment capital in-state and channeling it into companies, real estate, and infrastructure projects capable of scaling regionally and nationally. CEO Mark Kvamme, who previously worked at Sequoia Capital and founded both JobsOhio and Drive Capital, has framed the fund as an "evergreen" vehicle that reinvests its returns back into the Ohio economy to provide a durable, recurring source of capital for businesses at multiple stages of maturity. Co-founder Ray Leach, the former founding CEO of JumpStart, brings roughly two decades of Ohio economic-development and venture experience to the partnership.
Sector Focus
The fund deploys across a deliberately broad set of sectors rather than specializing narrowly: advanced manufacturing, biotechnology and life sciences, healthcare (including AI-enabled healthcare access), real estate (including build-to-rent and mixed-use), infrastructure, logistics, and next-generation technology companies (including AI-native manufacturing and robotics). Recent portfolio additions include an AI-native autonomous steel fabrication company (1872), an AI healthcare access startup (Laina Health), a cellular/wireless module manufacturer (Eagle Wireless/New Eagle), an EV/specialty bus manufacturer (Endera Motors), and an AI-driven staffing platform (Innosource).
Stage Focus and Capital Allocation
The Fund is unusual among VCs in that it explicitly targets a blended capital-allocation strategy across asset classes rather than a single investment stage: approximately 30% to real estate and infrastructure, 35% to growth equity (private-equity-style investments in stable, growing companies), 30% to growth venture capital (revenue-generating, pre-IPO technology companies), and roughly 5% to earlier-stage businesses and diversified Ohio-based funds (e.g., Narya, Riverside, Scale Co, Vessel). This structure allows the fund to write both venture-style checks into younger technology companies and larger growth-equity/real-estate checks into more mature, cash-flowing Ohio businesses.
Check Size
Specific check-size ranges are not publicly disclosed. Given the fund's ~$647M in committed capital and its blended real estate/growth-equity/growth-VC allocation strategy, individual investment sizes likely range from single-digit millions for earlier-stage or fund-of-fund commitments up to $20M+ for growth-equity and real estate deals (e.g., the fund's July 2026 $15M seed round in 1872 and its participation in Eagle Wireless's $30M Series B).
Lead Tendency
Unknown / mixed. Public reporting shows the fund both leading rounds directly (e.g., 1872's $15M seed) and participating alongside other investors and funds (e.g., co-investment via Narya, Riverside, and Scale Co fund commitments).
Recent Activity
The O.H.I.O. Fund has been actively and rapidly deploying capital through 2026:
- July 2026: Backed 1872, an SpaceX-alumni-founded autonomous steel fabrication/robotic welding startup in Cincinnati, in a $15M seed round.
- May 2026: Announced the fund had reached $647M in total committed capital, having added 18 new investors and deployed $217M across 33 investments to date, including a new AI healthcare investment (Laina Health).
- April 2026: Raised $290M in new Q1 2026 commitments and backed a Dublin, Ohio-based telehealth company (Laina Health).
- February 2026: Backed Eagle Wireless's $30M Series B for cellular module R&D and production scaling; separately reported having raised more than $350M and already returned $75M+ to investors within two years of deploying $196M.
- January 2026: Reported a $356M capital milestone and helped relocate Hyperframe's metal-framing manufacturing operations from California to Columbus, Ohio.
Portfolio Highlights
The portfolio spans more than two dozen companies and fund commitments, including: 1872 (AI-native steel fabrication), Laina Health (AI healthcare access), Eagle Wireless/New Eagle (cellular/wireless modules), Endera Motors (EV/specialty buses, reported 215% growth), Hyperframe (metal framing construction, relocated manufacturing to Columbus), Splash Financial (loan refinance marketplace), Bobbie (organic infant formula), Choolaah (Indian food platform), Folio Photonics (nanophotonic data storage), Innosource (AI-enabled staffing), Ease Logistics (freight/logistics management), Juno (packaging/can printing), Juca Bio (biopharmaceutical), Sundays (premium dog food, growth equity), BTR Haus and Valor/DiGeronimo Companies (real estate), Housing Blocks (modular/prefab housing), Infinite Magic (autonomous micro-factories), and fund commitments to Narya, Riverside, Scale Co, and Vessel.
Team
- Mark Kvamme — CEO & Chief Investment Officer. Former Sequoia Capital investor; founded JobsOhio and Drive Capital.
- Ray Leach — Co-Founder, President & CFO. Founding CEO of JumpStart, ~20 years in Ohio economic development and venture capital.
- Jill Meyer — COO & Chief Relationship Officer. Former 20-year private attorney; former CEO of the Cincinnati Regional Chamber.
- Mike Venerable — Director of Healthcare & Life Sciences. Ohio native with prior experience in California, South Korea, and Washington D.C.
- Christina Perry — Chief Financial Officer. Cleveland native with a family-business background.
- Kristi Tanner — Chief Marketing and Engagement Officer.
- Jeffrey Stern — Principal. Co-founded Axuall (Cleveland venture-backed company); created the "Lay of The Land" Northeast Ohio entrepreneurship podcast.
- Peeyush Shrivastava — Principal. Founded and exited medtech startup Genetesis in Mason, Ohio.
- Steve Briggs — Principal.
- Shubha Inamdar — Director of Finance & Operations.
- Matt Kaido — Associate.
- Jessica Talbott — Manager, Investor Relations & Operations.
- Alice Campbell — Executive Administrator & Office Manager.
Decision Process
Structured as a partnership with a CEO/Chief Investment Officer (Kvamme) and President/CFO (Leach) at the top, supported by dedicated sector leads (e.g., Venerable for healthcare/life sciences) and a team of Principals sourcing and evaluating deals. This suggests an investment-committee-style process rather than a solo-GP model.
Founder Preferences
The fund's marketing and team bios emphasize Ohio-connected founders (natives, transplants, or companies choosing to relocate/scale operations into Ohio) building in traction-stage businesses — companies that "already have traction or have the potential to strengthen Ohio's future." Several team members are themselves former Ohio-based founders (Stern with Axuall, Shrivastava with Genetesis), suggesting the fund values operator empathy and values founders willing to build and scale within the state rather than relocate out.
Geographic Focus
Exclusively Ohio-based companies and projects, with specific activity concentrated in Cleveland (fund HQ), Cincinnati (1872's facility, Jill Meyer's home base), Columbus/Dublin/New Albany (Laina Health, Hyperframe relocation, New Albany Innovation Center), and other Ohio metro regions. The fund has also actively courted out-of-state companies (e.g., a California manufacturing company relocating to Columbus) to relocate operations into Ohio.