Ryan will lead delegation of venture capitalists on tour here

YOUNGSTOWN — U.S. Rep. Tim Ryan will lead a delegation of venture capitalists on a tour of heartland cities, starting Wednesday in Youngstown, to learn what it will take to get more investment flowing to companies in these cities.

Ryan of Howland, D-13th, will be joined by U.S. Rep. Ro Khanna, a California Democrat, in hosting the tour that also includes Akron; Detroit and Flint in Michigan; and South Bend, Ind.

The group will meet with local business people, elected officials and incubators in each city with the goal of having venture capitalists learn about the startup activity and investment opportunities outside the coasts, Ryan said.

Together, these venture capitalist’s firms make more than $14 billion in investments. Some companies their funds have backed include SpaceX, Airbnb, Uber, Alibaba, Spotify, Facebook, Flexport, Zendesk, Twitter, and Snap.