One to Watch: Darkside Scientific, via JumpStart on YouTube 

In 2004 Knight Foundation helped form the Fund for Our Economic Future, a collaborative to turn around the hard-hit economy of northeast Ohio. Knight and the Fund recently released a report detailing lessons from the Fund’s first seven years, “Catalyzing Regional Economic Transformation.” As part of its work, the Fund has invested in JumpStart, a nonprofit venture development organization. Below, Shawn Mastrian, CEO of Darkside Scientific, writes about the mentoring his company has received through JumpStart.

Darkside Scientific is a 3-year-old advanced coatings company. We make a product called LumiLor, which is the world’s first and only electroluminescent paint system. You can spray it onto any surface and cause it to emit light consistently and evenly with an electrical charge.

Basically, we can turn anything into a light. Related Links 

“Lessons in collaboration reach beyond the boundaries of NE Ohio ” by Carol Coletta and Jon Sotsky on KnightBlog

“Collaborative values persistence in revitalizing regional economies” by Brad Whitehead on KnightBlog

“Business accelerator jump-starts opportuniites in NE Ohio” by Laura Bennett on KnightBlog

“Catalyzing Regional Economic Transformation: Lessons From Funder Collaboration in Northeast Ohio”

“Business, philanthropy unite around common economic goals in NE Ohio” by Daniel E. Klimas on KnightBlog

“NE Ohio fosters environment for entrepreneurship” by Tony Giordano on KnightBlog

“The power of convening and coordinating” by Wayne Watkins on KnightBlog

“Relationships enable NE Ohio startup to scale its business” by Jay Schabel on KnightBlog

Right now, we paint cars and motorcycles, which is good business and essentially funded our research and development. But we have bigger plans; we want everything in the world that produces light to do it better with LumiLor. The biggest challenge for us is in getting from the “that’s cool” part of the conversation to “we have a proven product capable of being mass applied to thousands of parts.” That’s where we depend on the support of JumpStart and the entrepreneurial environment in northeast Ohio.

Working with an automobile manufacturer, for example, there are many revolutionary things that we can do on and inside a car, which save money and time, and—more importantly—produce a differentiated product. How do we pick a thing inside a car to paint? How many of them do we need to paint? How do we install our product on the manufacturer’s assembly lines? How do we go through their test processes? We have lots of conversations, but it’s difficult to go from the idea to launching a project; we have about $50 million of conversations in the pipeline right now, just waiting for something to happen. That makes the counsel of experienced business veterans and entrepreneurs vital to our success.

The team mentoring I’ve received through JumpStart has been tremendously impactful for us. People like me who run small businesses make hypotheses about markets and how to serve them. We strategize around these hypotheses, and the markets prove us right or wrong every day. Having experienced professionals help guide me and convince me that I’m not crazy has been vital to our success, and to delivering the proper focus to our business. I definitely would have missed some things otherwise. 

The entrepreneurial community in northeast Ohio includes access to a network of grants, coaching and counseling. This support serves as a light amid the chaos. It makes this the perfect place to start a business. It’s why Darkside Scientific is committed to northeast Ohio and just moved to a bigger, better facility here. Every company I start from this point forward will be based in this community.