Venture Capital

Come assist Van Buren Shelter (https://ymcacolumbus.org/locations/vanburen) staff in serving dinners and cleaning up on the 3rd Tuesday of each month. Dinner for the women is 5-6 pm and for the families is 6:15-7:15 pm. There is ample free parking available in the shelter's lot. The recommended area to park is in green in the image above. There will be a new entrance for the time being. We are asking all volunteers to enter through the Donation Dock door, the orange mark on the image above. This door is located between the Single Adults and Family Shelter. You will see 2 large garage doors with a large green trash compactor in the center. Please head to the closest garage door to the building wall, with a ramp leading up. There, you will see a door with a sign stating instructions on how to enter the building. Please ring the doorbell, and a staff member will come and escort you into the building. If a staff member takes longer than 5 minutes, please call the front desk at 614-689-2020. This is a new process for us, and we do not want to keep you waiting! We appreciate your patience as we navigate this temporary change. The shelter needs a volunteer count the day before the event so sign-up ends Monday at 4:50 PM. Afterwards some of us go to the Omnipresent Atheists Weekly Meetup in progress to have a bit to eat or drink (http://www.meetup.com/omnipresentatheists/). Volunteers must be 14 or older. Since we will be working around families, the YMCA does not permit volunteering by individuals with convictions for violent or sexual crimes. The YMCA reserves the right to run background checks on volunteers. For questions, comment on this page or contact: Andrew, awhit12@yahoo.com, (614)937-5802 (cell). Please let Andrew know if you volunteer anytime other than our COUNT events so that he can count your hours toward our service record.

**Building a great product is one thing—building momentum behind it is another.** Join **Senior Product Manager Adam Solaiman** and **User Experience Manager Tyson Smith** for a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to turn complex ideas into scalable products inside large organizations. In this session, they’ll share how teams move from ambiguity to execution—navigating organizational complexity, aligning stakeholders, and continuously evolving products after launch. You’ll walk away with insights on how to: * Build and sustain momentum across teams * Adapt to changing priorities without losing direction * Scale products thoughtfully in complex environments Whether you're driving a new initiative or growing an existing product, this conversation will give you practical strategies to keep things moving forward. Come connect, learn, and swap stories with fellow product professionals. \-\-\- Food and drinks will be provided by Switchbox, our generous host. Free parking will be available at the front and back sides of the Switchbox Office.

Mental Health, how do you understand it? How can you improve it? How do you get rid of stress, anxiety and uncertainty? These emotions are buried deep in your reactive mind. Find out what the reactive mind is, and in the process find yourself. Have you ever suffered from a traumatic experience, a deep loss or been through a painful breakup? Has your ability to communicate suffered as a result? And after that, even though you "moved on" did you find that things were never quite the same? Have you ever looked at childhood photos, or reminisced your early life and wondered where that happiness and spark went? Are your emotions out of your own control? Have you ever felt, even if you aren’t aware of it, that possibly you are getting in your own way of your happiness and success? How does this affect your self-confidence? Find out what is at the root of all stress, anxiety, depression and self-doubt. Find out how and why you hold yourself back from achieving your goals and having the life you have dreamed of. As soon as you learn what is at the root of these unwanted conditions, you’ll see it is something you can DO something about. You will not be labeled or categorized at this MeetUp. This group is hosted by the Dianetics and Scientology Life Improvement Center of Central Ohio.

Join the Columbus AI community for our quarterly gathering — a casual, community-focused evening where everyone has a chance to share, learn, and connect. These open mic–style events give anyone in the community up to **5 minutes** to present a project, share a tool, pose a question, or offer a perspective on the evolving AI space. No slides required — just a welcoming space to exchange ideas and keep the local AI conversation moving. If you’d like to take the stage, message \*\*Chris (the organizer)\*\*with a **title and short description** of what you’d like to share. Whether you’re deep in the field or just getting curious, come connect with others building and exploring AI in Columbus. Sponsored by [Transform Labs](https://www.linkedin.com/company/transformlabs/) Sign up also accessible via [Transform Labs Luma](https://luma.com/transformlabshq)

Customer identity resolution becomes increasingly complex as organizations scale across multiple systems, regions, and data formats. Traditional rule-based approaches often fail to keep up with data variability, require constant manual tuning, and struggle with real-time processing needs. This session presents a practical approach to building a scalable identity resolution pipeline using AWS services and modern AI techniques. The architecture combines data ingestion through Amazon S3 and AWS Glue, transformation pipelines using Spark on EMR, and machine learning models deployed via SageMaker for entity matching and standardization. Graph-based relationship modeling is implemented using Amazon Neptune to improve resolution accuracy by incorporating household and shared attribute context. We will walk through how machine learning models can be used for name and address normalization, how intelligent blocking strategies improve matching efficiency, and how feedback loops can be introduced to continuously improve accuracy. The session also highlights how serverless components such as AWS Lambda can be used for orchestration and real-time processing. **SPEAKER BIO** Mosaic Syed is a Senior Data Engineering and Cloud Solutions Architect with over 20 years of experience designing and delivering scalable, secure, and high-performance data solutions across global enterprise environments. https://www.linkedin.com/in/mosaic-basha-syed-92300856 **CALL FOR SPEAKERS** Learn more: [https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/](https://www.awscolumbus.com/get-involved/) **THANK YOU** *VEEAM* for hosting our meetup! To learn more about *Veeam*, please visit their website: [https://www.veeam.com/](https://www.veeam.com/) **DIRECTIONS** 8800 Lyra Dr #450 · Columbus, OH go to 4th floor. **Want to sponsor the pizza and/or bar tab?** Please contact me if you would like to sponsor this meetup's pizza and/or bar tab: angelo@mandato.com

🏓 **CSC Pickleball League – Join the Fun!** Whether you're competitive or just want to connect with fellow members, this friendly ladder league is for you! 🗓 **May 19 – July 7** ⏰ Tuesdays \| 7:00–9:00 PM 📍 Match Point Pickleball Club – 350 McCormick Blvd, Columbus 💲 $85 per player (no sub needed if you need to skip a week) **YOU MUST SIGN UP VIA LINK BELOW AND PAY PRIOR TO 5/17 TO RESERVE YOUR SPOT.** [Pickleball Summer 2026 - Calendar - Columbus Ski Club](https://www.columbusskiclub.org/content.aspx?page_id=4002&club_id=686961&item_id=2948671&actr=3) No equipment required (bring your own paddle if you prefer). Partners rotate weekly, and skill levels are assigned by the facility—no experience needed! Come out, improve your game, and meet great people. All skill levels welcome! Columbus Ski Club Membership is required to participate - don't worry its not expensive and allows you annual access to many other sports leagues and activities along with trips! Sign up for membership here and then proceed to sign up for Pickleball league. Please reach out with any questions! [New Member Sign Up - Columbus Ski Club](https://www.columbusskiclub.org/content.aspx?page_id=60&club_id=686961)

Please reserve your spot by registering on the below link : **Reserve** https://www.eventbrite.com/e/join-biggest-community-investors-founders-columbus-online-tickets-1988563717610?aff=meetup **QUESTIONS ?** Pls Reach out to; Ridhi - +971504724873 ( WhatsApp Only)

NFT's are here to stay folks! This is a group for like minded people interested in understanding, leveraging, using, creating for, profiting from, trading too i suppose, NFT's.. everything around them, complexity, fear and exploits, best practices and more. **PLUS** This group will talk AI ART tools, techniques, artists, video, audio, prototypes and more in the AI assisted production space- ART specifically, but we can get into any aspect of some of the cooler things happening in AI in general.

We will show how to build custom agents with Microsoft Agent Framework. Attendees will learn how to build and custom host agents when Microsoft Foundry is not a viable option.

**PLEASE BUY TICKETS THROUGH EVENTBRITE. RSVP THROUGH MEETUP IS NOT A TICKET PURCHASE CONFIRMATION.** Strive welcomes you to 'General Business Networking', Columbus' hottest networking event! We are set in the perfect central location in Downtown for all to join. Are you interested in business? Want to elevate your career? Meet Consultants, Analysts of all types, Bankers, Software Engineers, Entrepreneurs, and more who are active in the space or are eager to get started. **\*\*This will be a multi-vertical event\*\*** **There will be professionals with backgrounds in the arts, finance, tech, real estate, healthcare, and more. Come with an open mind, and leave with connections that wouldn't be possible otherwise!** Pack some business cards and come with an open mind! Meet your future business partners, employers, coworkers, investors, and friends. You don't want to miss this opportunity to expand your network and create a brighter future. We will have a space for our event to check-in. The event will go from 6:00 PM - 8:00 PM (feel free to come at any point in this timeframe). Name tags will be provided. Business casual dress code. Job fair attire. **Remember, it's not who you know, it's who you meet tomorrow!** We look forward to meeting you at the event! Sincerely, Strive Networking Team *Refund requests are permitted up to 24 hours after purchase, so long as we are not within 48 hours before the event start time. Refunds will be made in full and repaid to your method of payment. Note that we are unable to reimburse PayPal fees.* *Disclaimer: By attending Strive Networking events you agree to photos/videos taken during the event being used to promote future events.*

Bring your business cards and network in person with other business professionals! Gold Star Referral Clubs is one of the most established professional networking organizations in the country, with multiple groups in central Ohio. Join us!

(Note: RSVPing here on meetup does NOT reserve your seat. To do that, you’ll need to register at our website, **[HERE](https://www.coreerocks.com/Events.aspx?ID=In-Person-Columbus-Meeting-How-I-Get-Private-Lenders-and-Partners-to-Fund-My-Deals-14-6-2-2026)**.) Tuesday, June 2nd, 5:00–8:30 PM Eastern Central Ohio Chapter Meeting IN PERSON IN COLUMBUS How I Get Private Lenders and Partners to Fund My Deals If you can’t fund it, you don’t have a deal. And right now, funding is where more investors are getting stuck. Private lenders are more cautious. Partners are asking better questions. And deals that look good on paper still fall apart when the money doesn’t show up. That’s why we’re bringing in a panel of investors who are actually getting their deals funded right now. You’ll hear how they’re finding money, structuring deals, and building relationships that lead to repeat funding. Here’s what you’ll learn: * Where they’re finding private lenders today * How they start conversations that lead to funding * What makes lenders and partners say YES * How they structure deals to be fundable * The biggest mistakes investors make when raising money * How to build repeat funding relationships **Early Session (6:00–7:00 PM Eastern):** **Having Trouble Finding Tenants? How Community Shelter Board Can Help** Nicholas Brenner will walk you through programs designed to help rapidly rehouse tenants, including financial support that can stabilize your rentals. **The Deal Room (7:00–7:30 PM Eastern)** Bring deals, funding needs, buyers, and problems. This is where connections turn into action. This meeting is for serious real estate investors nationwide, and we’re known for our high-content, real-life education and our nationwide community of dealmakers. Members and non-members at all levels are welcome. Register below to reserve your seat. Remember, to actually reserve your seat, you have to go **[HERE](https://www.coreerocks.com/Events.aspx?ID=In-Person-Columbus-Meeting-How-I-Get-Private-Lenders-and-Partners-to-Fund-My-Deals-14-6-2-2026)** and register on our website!

We may pick a specific topic and post in advance or may discuss current events and various ad hoc topics . We would love to spend time hanging out and getting to know one another. Atheist, agnostics, other non-theists, and atheist-friendly people are welcome to join us. Note: COUNT operates a Facebook page at www.facebook.com/groups/COUNT.discussions (http://www.facebook.com/groups/COUNT.discussions/) to promote discussions among members and visitors.

Join us as we get together to see the top-reviewed comedy-drama, I LOVE BOOSTERS! The film comes from writer/director Boots Riley and follows a group of shoplifters who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven. Here are details, trailers and our plan for this event: DESCRIPTION: The film follows a group of shoplifters who take aim at a cutthroat fashion maven. It is written/directed by Boots Riley (Sorry to Bother You) and stars Keke Palmer, Naomi Ackie, Taylour Paige, Poppy Liu, Eiza González, LaKeith Stanfield, Will Poulter, Don Cheadle, and Demi Moore. BUZZ AND ACCLAIM: I Love Boosters was the opening film at this year’s SXSW Festival and premiered to rave reviews! It is currently earning a tremendous 97% positive rating on Rotten Tomatoes where critics call it, “an unexpected celebration of friendship, community, and solidarity.” Others call the film “an exercise in radical empathy,” a “masterful” and “optimistic” film designed to “provoke discussion” while making the audience laugh. TRAILER: [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4lPRISgr9c](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r4lPRISgr9c) SUMMER OF ICE CREAM: GRAETER’S! Established way back in 1870 in Cincinnati, this historic, family-owned brand is famous for their delicious small batch ice cream and any chocolate chunk flavors! They are currently the only commercial ice cream maker using the French Pot method that they’ve been using since they first opened! Plus, those chocolate chunks, oh my goodness! Vegan options are available. PLAN: We’ll plan for a 7pm-ish showing and will meet in the lobby area about 20 minutes before the show. Advance ticket purchase not required for this theater but Showtime and complete details will be confirmed/announced as the date gets closer. Look forward to seeing you there, Dan

[ECDI Pop-Up Market Official Registration Site --> https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ecdi-pop-up-market-tickets-1986071755083](https://www.eventbrite.com/e/ecdi-pop-up-market-tickets-1986071755083) Celebrate Small Business Month by shopping local for food, drinks, and handcrafted gifts! Join us for the ECDI Pop‑Up Market, a celebration of local entrepreneurs during Small Business Month. Explore delicious food and drinks, discover handcrafted goods, and shop unique items from small businesses in your community. Whether you’re looking to support local makers, discover new favorites, or pick up a thoughtful gift, this market has something for everyone. **What you’ll find at the market:** * Local food and beverage vendors * Handcrafted goods and unique gifts * A chance to meet and support small business owners in your community * An easy, fun way to discover new local favorites [SCORE Central Ohio](https://www.score.org/ "https://www.score.org/") will also be on site to talk about their small business mentorship program. **Market Vendors:** Baked Goods * Shante Makes Body Care * [Bellas Natural Beauty Products](https://www.facebook.com/Bellasnaturalbeautyprod/ "https://www.facebook.com/Bellasnaturalbeautyprod/") Clothing & Accessories * [The Krafted Kollection](https://www.thekraftedkollection.com/ "https://www.thekraftedkollection.com") * [Loayza Elegant Jewelry](https://www.loayzaelegantjewelry.com/ "https://www.loayzaelegantjewelry.com/") * [Swahili House 254](https://www.swahilihouse254.com/ "https://www.swahilihouse254.com") Food/Beverage * [Aqua Pure Central Ohio](https://aquapurecentralohio.com/ "https://aquapurecentralohio.com") * [Better Beverage](https://betterbevshop.com/ "https://betterbevshop.com") * [Cherays Banana Pudding](https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567527322952 "https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61567527322952") * [Dr. May's Thai Kitchen](https://www.drmaysthaikitchen.com/menu "https://www.drmaysthaikitchen.com/menu") * [Kronchy LLC](https://www.kronchys.com/ "https://www.kronchys.com") * [Terra Mezcal Mexican Grill](https://terra%20mezcal%20mexican%20grill/ "https://Terra Mezcal Mexican Grill") Packaged Food * [Grow to Eat, Eat to Live](https://growtoeattolive.com/ "https://growtoeattolive.com/") * [Underworld Feast](https://underworldfeast.com/ "https://underworldfeast.com/")  Since 2004, ECDI has assisted Ohio’s entrepreneurs through their one-stop-shop business services model, suited to meet the needs of all entrepreneurs, regardless of what business stage they’re in. From providing capital to entrepreneurs looking to expand their businesses, to providing focused, business-specific educational opportunities to enhance entrepreneurial skill sets, ECDI works with their clients to meet their specific needs. Whether you merely have a business idea or are opening up your fifth location, we have helped more than 15,000 entrepreneurs to take advantage of the services we provide.