According to a report released by the Venture Capital Advisory Task Force based on data provided by investors and collected by tech-based development organizations BioEnterprise and JumpStart, Greater Cleveland companies attracted $961 million from venture capitalists and angel investors from 2007 to 2011.

That figure represents a 26-percent increase in dollars when compared to the previous five years.

“There is a dramatic change in the activity, the number of investable companies and the quality of the companies in the pipeline in Northeast Ohio from 10 years ago,” says Bill Trainor, co-founder and Managing Director of Mutual Capital Partners Funds I & II.

The bulk of the money went to companies in the fields of biopharmaceuticals, medical devices, healthcare service, IT, and software.

“We’re only beginning to see the results of the public, private and philanthropic initiatives begun almost 10 years ago to accelerate the successes of startups in the state,” says Doug Weintraub, JumpStart’s chair and an active investor in the region. “Given that Northeast Ohio started ramping up activity to assist and support the creation and growth of tech companies in 2005 and 2006 -- and that the National Venture Capital Association estimates the average time from initial investment to a company’s exit is about nine years -- we can expect even more success stories in the coming years.”

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