PRESS: Please direct all inquiries to: Jim Cunningham,
513-791-2884 X202,
or email
c-cap@thecircuit.net.

 

 

News

The Circuit: Cincinnati's Digital Connection forms
C-Cap - The Circuit's Capital Resource Hub

  • C-Cap will connect entrepreneurs and Angel investors to increase the funding of businesses in the local community.
  • C-Cap will help entrepreneurs find mentors and the other resources they need to attract seed monies from Angels.
  • C-Cap will assist Angel investors to locate quality companies asking for financial support.
  • Jim Cunningham is Director of this new project.
    Angels and Sponsors are demonstrating their support for C-Cap.

CINCINNATI, OHIO, May 31, 2001 - The Circuit - Cincinnati's Digital Connection today announced C-Cap, a hub that connects growth companies in need of money with "Angel" investors who want to invest in new companies that are not yet mature enough to attract professional venture capital firms. Queen City Angels, a group of Angel investors who have invested in several growth companies in the past year, is already participating in C-Cap. Through its activities C-Cap will foster the cooperation needed to grow businesses in the local community.

C-Cap has risen out of the local need for a coordinated approach to capital formation, especially for smaller and start-up companies. It will enlist the sponsorship and support of professional firms and companies interested in promoting the successful financing of startups. C-Cap is also recruiting Angels as members.

Companies needing capital will come to C-Cap to get mentoring and introductions to Angel investors. C-Cap will offer professional support and provide entrepreneur "boot camps." The companies' management teams may be strengthened by advisers and/or managers the companies find through C-Cap. Before presenting a company to an Angel, C-Cap will ensure that the company's business plan is complete, concise, and in a consistent format.

Angels will benefit by being presented with companies that are easier to understand and evaluate. Angels will see business plans that they may not have learned about through their normal network channels. The Angels become part of a larger group, so deals may be funded that one Angel could not have financed alone. The deals funded through C-Cap will have higher visibility with venture capitalists, which will increase their chance of getting later-round institutional funding.

Seven angel investors, former technology company executives who are actively investing in start-up technology companies, and who are part of the Queen City Angels, are the first Angels to join. Tony Shipley, who serves as a Trustee of Ohio's IT Alliance and The Circuit, and who has helped organize the Queen City Angels, commented, "Some of the top problems Angels incur in the current, informal way Angel funding is accomplished include: finding deals that are well packaged and presented, conducting due diligence (especially on technology), and locating mentors for the entrepreneurs. We look to C-Cap to help us address these issues."

C-Cap is enlisting sponsors to help support its activities. C-Cap has already enrolled the national accounting firms of Ernst & Young and KPMG as Platinum Sponsors, the highest level of sponsorship. C-Cap has also recruited several Supporting Sponsors, including the accounting firms of PriceWaterhouseCoopers and Deloitte & Touche, and the law firms of Graydon, Head & Ritchey and Cors & Bassett. "C-Cap focuses on the most under-served need of new companies - early stage capital," said Tom O'Neil, partner and Director of Entrepreneurial Services at Ernst & Young. "By closing this critical funding gap, C-Cap will help many more good companies to succeed."

That sentiment was reinforced by John Eesley, the partner in charge of the Mid-America Technology Practice at KPMG. "Especially in today's market, with banks and venture capitalists acting conservatively, individual angel investors must play a key role. By having an effective angel network Cincinnati will be ahead of the pack in the Midwest, and can compete with the east and west coasts in fostering new growth companies."

Jim Cunningham has been named Director of C-Cap. Cunningham, who has served on the Board of Directors of The Circuit, has been a senior manager with Car-Part.com and Entek IRD International (both local venture-backed technology companies). He is a former partner of Graydon Head & Ritchey. Blaine Clark, President of The Circuit, commented, "Jim's background includes successful funding endeavors, acquisitions and sales of companies, and years of law practice. To this expertise he adds his considerable background with The Circuit. He is the ideal person for this position, and we are pleased that he accepted it."
According to Cunningham, "C-Cap's mission is simple: to increase the number of local growth companies that receive angel funding and move on to become successful businesses."

The Circuit is a nonprofit association dedicated to helping companies within Cincinnati's high-tech community become more successful through educational events, networking opportunities and government advocacy. As a member of Ohio's IT Alliance, The Circuit partners with other technology organizations to leverage information and resources throughout the state of Ohio. The Circuit is also a member of the Council of Registered IT Associations (CRITA), which nationally represents more than 26,000 IT organizations.

For more information, contact Jim Cunningham at 513-791-2884 ext. 202.

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