Startup funding shifts to quality over quantity in Columbus and beyond
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The Columbus startup scene is seeing money flow toward larger deals — especially those involving AI companies.
Why it matters: It's becoming quality over quantity in Columbus and Ohio, which has tried for years to attract entrepreneurs.
- For Global Entrepreneurship Week, we're checking in on Columbus' quest to become a thriving technology hub.
State of play: Deal counts are trending lower nationally, but average fundraising rounds are up, says Tom Walker, CEO of Rev1, a Columbus-based and Ohio-funded venture development studio.
- The approach is "leading to bigger rounds for top-performing teams running companies that are marking significant progress, and that have generally been around longer," Walker tells Axios.
He shared two more key 2025 trends:
🌱 Columbus' role in the pipeline
Central Ohio represents nearly half of all capital invested in Ohio since 2013, Walker says, and that trend has continued.
Zoom in: Data from Pitchbook ranks Rev1 the most active investor in Ohio and No. 3 in the Great Lakes region since 2013, but Walker hopes that investment will move to companies at an earlier stage.
- "To continue as a driver, the region would benefit from increased support at the pre-seed and seed stages to ensure more companies are funded sufficiently to grow and attract later-stage financing."
👋 Momentum around exits
Exits (sales, mergers and other acquisitions) are in line with 2024, both up from a 2023 dip.
Between the lines: That's an encouraging sign for Walker, who says recent exits by local companies like Aware, LiveEasy, Matrix and Ghostdog are part of a wave of momentum.
- "While many acquisition values are undisclosed, the number of local companies reaching meaningful outcomes has increased compared to the immediate post-COVID years."
Catch up quick: The year in entrepreneurship
Some of the 2025 news shaping our entrepreneurial environment:
💰 Anduril's arrival: The defense tech company's massive development project near Rickenbacker is one of the biggest deals in Ohio history.
📈 State investment: The Ohio Third Frontier continues to invest in local startups, including $67 million in April and $2 million in October.
🌟 Techstars turns 2: Ohio State-backed Techstars Columbus celebrated its second anniversary and launched another cohort of startups.
💸 A new angel fund: 71/70 Angels launched in February and later closed its first fund supporting early-stage startups.
🚘 The evolution of Drive: Drive Capital returned $500 million to investors in a single week as one of Ohio's biggest names in VC continues to reinvent itself.