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Five Startups to Watch in Ohio in 2021

By George Paul

Last updated: Feb 15, 2023

Given the Buckeye State’s burgeoning status as a startup destination, we decided to take a look at five prominent and promising startups that have set themselves up for success in 2021.

Editorial credit: aceshot1/shutterstock.com
Editorial credit: aceshot1/shutterstock.com

1. Olive

Olive is a Columbus-based unicorn improving the efficiency of healthcare spending by using AI to automate monotonous and error-prone administrative workflows. The venture is led by CEO Sean Lane, who was drawn to the healthcare industry after he witnessed the prescription drug abuse problem in his hometown of Gallipolis, Ohio. The company, which was founded in 2012, surpassed 1000 employees nationwide this past September and has even begun to spin out startups, like Circulo, through its in-house venture capital studio called Olive Ventures.

2. Loop

Columbus, Ohio’s Loop is an exchange-first returns platform designed for e-commerce. The company was founded in 2017 and raised $65 million in a Series B funding round led by CRV, with participation from Shopify and Renegade Partners in August 2021. The company’s software helps guide e-commerce shoppers through the returns process and handles steps like shipping labels and refunds to help retain their business. This offering is becoming an increasingly more important part of the logistics industry as last year holiday returns are estimated to have cost retailers $101 billion, according to the National Retail Federation.

3. Empora Title

Empora Title, which emerged from stealth in early December 2021, aims to digitize the outdated and slow-moving real estate title process. The startup is fresh off a $20 million Series A and is backed, in part, by real estate tech giant Opendoor. Empora’s solution, which provides users with a dashboard to upload documents and information and track the progress of transactions, is currently only available in Ohio, but the company says it aims to expand nationally soon.

4. Beam Dental

Beam Dental(https://theorg.com/org/beam-dental/org-chart"Beam Dental's org chart") is another Columbus success story. The dental insurance startup was founded in 2012 and has raised a total of $160 million in equity after its $80 million Series E funding round in March 2021. The company’s recent growth has been electric as it doubled its member base in 2019 and 2020, and is looking to do so again this year. Beam Dental’s insurance products are available in 41 US states and are accepted at more than 400,000 access points nationwide.

5. Splash Financial

Founded in 2013 by CEO Steven Muszynski, Splash Financial is on a mission to help consumers save money while still paying back their student loans. Over the past summer, the student loan refinancing marketplace and technology platform raised a little over $44 million in a Series B funding round to build out its lender network and automated underwriting platform.

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