Main Street Ventures will host its second annual entrepreneur showcase event, Adventure Through Greater Cincinnati, from 4 to 8 p.m. on July 25 in MadTree Brewing’s Oakley Barrel Room (3301 Madison Road, Cincinnati).
NKY businesses participating in the event include Curious Kitchen, TootSuite, Cooler Keg, and more. A full list of participating businesses is here.
“We are thrilled to be back hosting our second annual showcase event to celebrate the best and brightest startups in the Greater Cincinnati region for which Main Street Ventures has been able to provide funding and support to ensure their success,” said Sean Parker, Executive Director of Main Street Ventures. “As we strive to provide more than funding but also resources, community and a foundation for startups in the Greater Cincinnati region, this event provides an opportunity for these local businesses to share what they have to offer with the wider community.”
The event will kick off with a Launch It: Cincy pitch event featuring students from the University of Cincinnati and Miami University who will pitching their business ideas. The students competed earlier this year for entrance to Main Street Ventures’ Launch It: Cincy Summer Program powered by KAO USA, Inc., and have spent the summer learning and developing their business ideas and entrepreneurial skills.
Following the Launch It: Cincy pitches, guests will have the opportunity to enjoy drinks and appetizers as they experience and sample products offered by 30 Main Street Ventures Activators – entrepreneurs who have received funding and level up support from the organization to start and/or expand their businesses.
VaLanDria Smith-Lash, founder of Coarse Culture – a self-care brand specializing in all-natural whipped shea butter products – is a Miami University student participating in the Launch It: Cincy Summer Program who will also be part of the vendor showcase.
“I am beyond excited to pitch during the Adventure Through Greater Cincinnati event. Having this opportunity means that I can share the story of my business and cast a wider net of awareness for Coarse Culture in a room filled with startups and supporters of the Cincy entrepreneurship network,” Smith-Lash said. “This showcase is the perfect opportunity to demonstrate all of my hard work in developing my brand through the Launch It: Cincy Summer Program and further emphasize Coarse Culture’s mission to assist customers on their journey to a happier and healthier well-being with plant-based products. I look forward to joining other MSV Activators to show what this generation of go-getters are truly capable of.”
Participating vendors include:
• Baqette – a small, woman-owned business creating and curating leather pieces to inspire everyday life.
• Coarse Culture – a self-care brand that specializes in all-natural whipped shea butter products.
• In the Curious Kitchen – a female-owned and founded brand creating ready-to-enjoy Southern classics, inspired by Bluegrass country.
• Narratize – a SaaS solution that leverages Natural Language Processing and Artificial Intelligence to help busy professionals create high-impact documents and stories.
Main Street Ventures provides equity-free funding to entrepreneurs and startups in eight counties within the Tri-State region with a focus on those who have been historically underrepresented in the startup community.
To learn more about Main Street Ventures, visit mainstventures.org.