AKRON, Ohio and SINGAPORE — August 23, 2026 — M7 Holdings, a global family investment office with over 25 years of experience in private capital formation, venture capital and angel investing, and real estate development, today outlined the expansion of its investment presence in Singapore, extending a cross-border strategy anchored at its Akron, Ohio headquarters.
The two-market structure formalizes a cross-border investment strategy M7 has been building deliberately since 2024: sourcing frontier technology in Southeast Asia through Singapore. The announcement arrives as both markets receive significant external validation.
Ohio: No. 1 in America
In July 2026, CNBC named Ohio the No. 1 state for business in its annual America’s Top States for Business study — the first time Ohio has claimed the top position since the study launched in 2007. Ohio climbed from No. 5 in 2025, marking its fifth consecutive year of improvement. Ohio ranked first nationally in two of the study’s most heavily weighted categories:
- Infrastructure (A+, No. 1) — the fourth-largest interstate highway system and fourth-largest freight rail network in the country, placing Ohio within a day’s drive of 60 percent of the U.S. and Canadian populations.
- Cost of Doing Business (A+, No. 1) — no corporate income tax, and a Commercial Activity Tax exclusion the state doubled in 2025.
The state also placed in the national top ten for Economy (No. 9), Access to Capital (No. 9), and Cost of Living (No. 9).
Separately, a 2026 Monster Build-a-Career Score analysis of the 100 largest U.S. metropolitan areas — weighing labor market strength against housing affordability — placed three Ohio metros in the national top five: Akron (No. 2), Dayton (No. 3), and Cleveland (No. 5).
“M7 has been investing in Ohio for decades, well before the rankings caught up. The CNBC and Monster data confirm what our operating companies live every day. We can logistically reach most of the country in a day. We can employ skilled talent. Our costs stay close to what we plan for. It's wonderful to see Ohio getting the recognition it has earned, and we are proud to call Ohio home.”
Singapore: A Springboard into Southeast Asia
Singapore serves as M7’s gateway to Southeast Asia, a region representing one of the world’s fastest-growing consumer and industrial markets. Singapore was selected deliberately, and the external validation is as strong as Ohio’s: the city-state ranked first among 70 economies in the 2026 IMD World Competitiveness Ranking, and first among 176 economies in The Heritage Foundation’s 2026 Index of Economic Freedom. For a long-horizon investor, that translates into the rule of law, regulatory transparency, capital mobility, and free-market orientation that M7 requires.
“Singapore is, by almost any measure, one of the most capitalistic economies in the world — and it functions that way in practice, not just on paper. It gives us a base where contracts are honored, capital moves freely, and world-class deep-tech talent is being produced at extraordinary density. From there, the entire region opens up. We are not tourists in Southeast Asia. We are building a permanent seat at the table.”
M7's Singapore investments sit alongside a strong syndicate of regional institutional and strategic partners, including SGInnovate, JRE Ventures, Shipsfocus Ventures, Granite Asia, Farquhar VC, Seeds Capital, Wavemaker Partners, Shift4Good, Lotus Singapore, and Paragon Capital among others.
M7 Ace NEO, the firm's early-stage venture and angel platform, has made 63 investments since 2019, many of them located in the Midwestern U.S. Eight Singapore companies added over the past two and a half years bring the total number of investments to 71. Singapore mirrors M7's core Midwest geographies more closely than its reputation suggests: strong technical founders, real underlying technology, and valuations still grounded in the fundamentals of the business. The Singapore portfolio spans food, energy transition, smart infrastructure, eMobility, AI and ocean sustainability:
Deal sourcing and evaluation are led by a Singapore-based advisor, working closely with John Dearborn, Senior Advisor to M7 Ace Neo, and are also supported by the investment team in Akron.
The Corridor: Why Both, and Why Now
The strategic logic runs in both directions. Ohio companies and the broader Northeast Ohio innovation ecosystem gain early exposure to technologies emerging from one of the most sophisticated deep-tech ecosystems in Asia. Singapore-based companies gain access to M7’s U.S. portfolio synergies and a path to the American market through a state that just ranked first in the nation for infrastructure and cost of doing business.
Synergies also extend beyond the M7 portfolio and access to capital. M7 Chairman Tony Manna co-founded Brennan Manna Diamond, an Akron-headquartered business law firm with nearly 100 attorneys across 12 offices, and founded Signet, LLC, a diversified investment and real estate development company. A company M7 backs in Singapore is not handed a check and left to fend for itself, it receives access to people who understand the U.S. terrain.
“Most cross-border capital is one-directional and impatient,” Eaton added. “Ours is neither. We are family capital with a permanent horizon, and we sit at both ends of the corridor. A founder in Singapore is not just getting a check from us. They are getting Ohio.”
About M7 Holdings
M7 Holdings is a global family investment office headquartered in Akron, Ohio, with an active investment presence in Singapore. For more than 25 years, M7 has invested across three pillars: M7 Ventures (majority-controlled entrepreneurial businesses), M7 Ace NEO (early-stage venture capital and angel investments), and M7 Signet Holdings (real estate development and operations). Learn more at m7holdings.com.
For Further Information
Contact Courtney Eaton: +1 330 685 1092 or courtney@m7holdings.com
