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Drive Capital’s second act — how the Columbus venture firm found success after a split


The venture capital world has always had a hot-and-cold relationship with the Midwest. Investors rush in during boom times, then retreat to the coasts when markets turn sour. For Columbus, Ohio-based Drive Capital, this cycle of attention and disinterest played out against the backdrop of its own internal upheaval several years ago -- a co-founder split that could have ended the firm but may have ultimately strengthened it.

For Columbus, Ohio-based Drive Capital, this cycle of attention and disinterest played out against the backdrop of its own internal upheaval several years ago — a co-founder split that could have ended the firm but may have ultimately strengthened it. But Drive also experienced the spectacular failure of Olive AI, a Columbus-based healthcare automation startup that raised over $900 million and was valued at $4 billion before eventually selling portions of its business in a fire sale. Drive has invested in an autonomous welding company, for example, and what Olsen calls “next-generation dental insurance” — sectors that arguably represent America’s $18 trillion economy beyond Silicon Valley’s tech darlings.

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