Students shared venture pitches and connected with alumni and Bay Area investors.
The Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship hosted an inaugural Summer Catalyst event in San Francisco on June 25, closing out a busy week of activity surrounding the launch of Third Coast Foundry, a new Bay Area hub connecting Ohio State and seven other Midwestern research universities with the region’s venture ecosystem. Earlier in the week, Ohio State participated in ribbon cutting events, an open house and the Midwest Deep Tech Demo Day. The week culminated with the Catalyst San Francisco event, connecting student founders with alumni and other Bay Area startup leaders.
Hosted at Third Coast Foundry, the event brought together Ohio State student founders, recent graduates, alumni innovators and partners across startups and tech for an evening of rapid‑fire pitches, conversation and networking. The gathering connected Buckeye entrepreneurs with one another and with the broader Bay Area startup network.
More than 60 attendees filled the Foundry’s communal workspace, including engineers, product leaders, startup founders and alumni from across the Bay Area, with a selection building at companies such as Google, MongoDB, Mercoa, Health Universe, Mintlify, Craftpath, Locarda, and Custom AI Studio.
A rapid‑fire pitch session anchored the program, featuring ventures from various Ohio State colleges. Student founders presented ideas spanning software, coaching tools and emerging hardware concepts. Alumni offered feedback, introductions and support throughout the evening, helping student founders connect with Bay Area operators and founders.
The Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship launched its new Summer Catalyst program May 5–8 at the Columbus campus, bringing together 167 students representing 86 ventures for a three‑and‑a‑half‑day intensive focused on startup development. The program is part of Ohio State’s broader effort to expand student innovation and entrepreneurship and help more student‑led ventures move from idea to market. Additional start‑up networking events are being planned for Chicago and Columbus, providing further opportunities for founders to refine their pitches, expand networks and build momentum.
“Summer Catalyst gives our student founders the structure and support they need to move faster,” said Cheryl Turnbull, director of the Keenan Center for Entrepreneurship. “The boot camp and nationwide events, such as this one in San Francisco, create real opportunities for students to test their ideas, get feedback and build the connections that help students grow as founders and ventures grow into sustainable businesses.”