Valley Growth Ventures

Valley Growth Ventures (VGV) is a $6 million micro venture capital fund based in Youngstown, Ohio, launched in 2016 to generate strong financial returns by backing high-growth technology companies across the state of Ohio, with a particular emphasis on the Mahoning Valley region. The fund was capitalized by raising just over $3 million from private investors, which was matched with $3 million from the State of Ohio's Third Frontier Pre-Seed/Seed Plus Fund Capitalization Program, and was formed as a partnership between five area organizations including the Youngstown Business Incubator, the Mahoning Valley Economic Development Corporation, the Youngstown State University Research Foundation and the Tech Belt Energy & Innovation Center. VGV invests primarily at the seed stage in software and information technology, healthcare, energy, additive manufacturing and advanced materials, willing to lead, and also works to attract out-of-region companies to relocate to the Mahoning Valley. The fund is led by Managing Director Ernie Knight, a veteran investor with more than two decades focused on seed and early-stage companies who was previously a founding Managing Director of Nationwide Mutual Capital, where he invested across a national footprint and led three exits of over $100 million. VGV has made around 11 investments, including BIOHM Health, FenixPyre, TonDone and MedPilot, and has recorded one exit, MedPilot in 2021, with its most recent disclosed deal being FenixPyre in December 2023. By combining private capital with state-backed matching funds, Valley Growth Ventures backs high-growth technology founders in Ohio and works to grow the Mahoning Valley's startup ecosystem.