StartMart could be one-stop shopping for entrepreneurs with grand opening on Sept. 8 in new Terminal Tower offices.
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The opening of StartMart -- a one-stop-shop for the entrepreneurially inclined -- is a big bet on the importance of startups in Cleveland. And one that has never been made to this magnitude before -- until now.
StartMart, housed in a 35,000 square foot space within Terminal Tower downtown, bills itself as a "dynamic entrepreneurial hub connecting entrepreneurs to critical resources." It will celebrate its grand opening Sept. 8.
StartMart was conceived by serial entrepreneur Charles Stack -- Parallax,
Michael. C. DeAloia Books.com, Flashline, Sideways and Flashstarts -- and was built as the start-point for the entrepreneurial journey: a one-stop shop for ideas, talent, resources, capital and work or office space.
In the past, Lute Harmon, publisher of Cleveland Magazine and Inside Business attempted to develop a venue similar to StartMart back in 2001, but it didn't fly. Peter Ditchman, too, promoted a like concept called Net 11 that was to be housed on Prospect Avenue near East Ninth Street, but instead ended up launching the Great Lakes Innovation and Development Enterprise on the campus of Lorain County Community College - unfortunately not in downtown Cleveland.
At the core of the new StartMart concept is an accelerator/incubator for startups with potential funding opportunities at three distinct stages -- pre-seed, seed and Series A.
The venue offers up to 20 startup offices, also called pods. Entrepreneurs apply to be selected to use the pods, and StartMart officials screen the applicants against its thesis of wanting high-growth, high-market potential companies that can add value to other entrepreneurs in the shared space.
The amenities within the office include a 1-Gig fiber connection from OneCommunity that eventually will grow to a 100-Gig fiber pipe. This amount of connectivity opens up big data and gaming software opportunities. The shared office space also offers a recording studio, green screen room and 3D printers, which will be essential for companies engaged in product development. Other amenities include a bike-friendly environment, meditation room, Ping-Pong table, workout room, a Maker's space and a bar where, according to Stack, "the VC's can keep their bottles."
"Make no small plans," Stack added. The goals of StartMart are simple:
- Create other StartMarts in the U.S and other countries.
- Create a "minor league" system that develops ideas, talents and capital and let it flow to where it can best grow.
- Build, eventually, a platform that is constantly starting and graduating companies
- Build a fluid stream of capital that comes back to StartMart from numerous liquidity events.
At the moment, it is unclear how other key area entrepreneurial constituencies, such as Bizdom or JumpStart, will play with StartMart. It would prove profound to have Bizdom, the other key accelerator in Cleveland, share space with StartMart since Bizdom is less than a block away. And JumpStart, the influential regional entrepreneurial advocacy group, I believe, should have some form of presence at the StartMart facility.
StartMart could be the chance to have a true one-stop shop for startups in this region.
The grand opening celebration is open to the public, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, civic leaders and anyone else who is interested in checking out the new space from 4-8 p.m. Sept. 8 at the SmartMart offices on the second floor of Terminal Tower. Tours of the facility will be provided.
Use this link to get your FREE ticket: http://bit.ly/1MaCE2V.