Innovation, influence and business in America's medical cities.

COLUMBUS, Ohio –Private equity managers will gather 4 p.m. Thursday to discuss the funding climate for emerging biotech businesses.

The 90-minute discussion — called “Innovation to Investment: An Ohio Bioscience Perspective” — will be at TechColumbus. It is free, but attendees must register in advance. A reception follows the event.

The discussion will focus on current trends in funding and also forecasts into future funding opportunities. Recent reports show a drop in venture investing, though some studies say there remain strong seed and early-stage options (pdf) in Ohio.

“There should be optimism,” said John Lewis, vice president at BioOhio. “The biomedical side and health-care side broadly speaking is still active and still investing. It’s not at the rates it was but firms have money and are looking for investments and that’s a good thing.”

Members from at least eight venture funds will take part in the discussions, including Triathlon Medical, Portal Capital, Draper Triangle Ventures and Midwest Venture Partners, among others.