Thu, Dec 14th, 2023 - 8:59pm
January 25, 2024 - 10:15am | By Chris Larson
(Grand Forks, ND) -- Kevin O'Leary, chairman of O'Leary Ventures, is expanding his brand in North Dakota.
O’Leary Ventures has signed a partnership agreement with The HIVE in downtown Grand Forks to sponsor and secure the naming rights for the main floor conference room. The main floor conference room will now be known as the “O’Leary Ventures Conference Room”.
As part of this announcement, O’Leary Ventures chairman, Kevin O’Leary, accepted Mayor Bochenski’s offer to visit Grand Forks and drop the puck at Friday night’s University of North Dakota hockey game versus Denver University.
“I am excited to host Kevin O’Leary and his team here in Grand Forks, they will get to see the very best of our community and tour our growing UAS and tech sector” Grand Forks Mayor Brandon Bochenski said. “Their partnership with The HIVE further grows our national profile as a great place to do business.”
While in Grand Forks, O’Leary Ventures will visit Grand Sky, UND and The HIVE, home to the O’Leary Ventures’ Wonder Fund North Dakota’s largest North Dakota investment, Thread. Thread, a long time tenant of The HIVE, is a leader in enterprise-scale asset maintenance for energy and utilities. With over 70 team members, Thread is proudly serving energy, utility, and DoD clients, including Fortune 500 companies.
“O’Leary Ventures’ interest in companies like ours validates the work that we have been doing.” Thread CEO & Co-Founder, Josh Riedy said. “I look forward to this partnership for years to come.”
“Wonder Fund North Dakota’s investment here is about seizing an unprecedented opportunity in Grand Forks.” Kevin O’Leary said. “This isn’t just another tech hub, this is the future.”
The HIVE, in downtown Grand Forks, is a hybrid business accelerator and incubator for Unmanned Aerial Systems and autonomous systems.
“Not only do we have Wonder Fund North Dakota’s investment into one of our tenants, we also have the Wonder Fund North Dakota’s management firm, O’Leary Ventures investing in this facility.” HIVE Managing Director, Johnny Ryan said. “Having someone like Mr. O’Leary taking the time to see the work we are doing at The HIVE and in Grand Forks only enhances our footprint on the UAS industry.”
