Jb Kropp

J.B. Kropp is a Cincinnati native and one of the acknowledged pioneers of the city's startup ecosystem. He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from Denison University. Early in his career he moved through a series of digital-media and social-technology companies: he was part of the founding team of Vitrue, a social-media management platform that was acquired by Oracle, and was an early executive at ShareThis, the digital sharing and data company. He later served as an executive at Twitter (now X), where he helped Procter & Gamble develop social-media marketing frameworks for its global brands.

As a founder himself, Kropp launched several ventures over the years, including SmartyTags.com, GoBigRecruiting.com, and George Remus Whiskey (a Cincinnati craft-spirits brand). In 2010 he co-founded The Brandery, a nationally ranked Cincinnati accelerator focused on branding and marketing that helped launch startups such as Roadtrippers, ChoreMonster, FlightCar, Frameri, and Ahalogy. He remains a board member of The Brandery and co-founded Main Street Ventures, a Cincinnati nonprofit supporting early-stage entrepreneurs in the Over-the-Rhine neighborhood.

On the investing side, Kropp co-manages Vine St. Ventures, a regional early-stage fund that has backed roughly 25 companies. In June 2014 he joined The E.W. Scripps Company as VP of digital strategy and business development, and he also held strategic and operational leadership roles at Gorilla Glue. He joined Cintrifuse in April 2023 as Managing Director of its investment arm, Cintrifuse Capital.

In February 2024, Cintrifuse named Kropp its Chief Executive Officer, succeeding longtime leader Pete Blackshaw. He now holds a dual role leading both the nonprofit ecosystem-building organization and Cintrifuse Capital, where his priority has been deploying Fund III into seed-stage businesses while continuing the fund's strategy of investing in other venture funds nationally.

• Invests primarily at Seed and Series A stages, with a focus on internet, mobile, consumer-product, and technology businesses.
• Through Cintrifuse Capital, runs a hybrid model: a fund-of-funds strategy backing venture funds nationally, combined with direct seed-stage investments in the Cincinnati region.
• Emphasizes building "renewed energy and vigor within the local startup community," using Fund III to inject capital into early-stage regional companies.
• Background spanning "investing, consumer product development, business operations and strategic leadership" — signaling comfort with founders building consumer and marketing-tech products.
• As a former founder and accelerator co-founder (The Brandery), he leans toward operators who understand brand, go-to-market, and building in the Midwest.