BOARDMAN, Ohio – LeapFast Manufacturing leaped past its competition Thursday night to win the 2025 Shark Tank pitch competition hosted by the newly rebranded YBI, formerly the Youngstown Business Incubator, at Mr. Anthony’s Banquet Center.
CEO Zac Courtright, a former NASA engineer, led the additive manufacturing startup to victory, envisioning a faster, more efficient future for American industry.
“My name is Zac Courtright, and I was born and raised in Northeast Ohio before I moved down south to work for NASA Marshall Space Flight Center for 10 years as an inventor and rocket scientist,” Courtright told the crowd. “But today, I’m not here to launch a rocket – I’m here to launch a manufacturing revolution starting in Youngstown, Ohio.”
Courtright said LeapFast’s goal is to overcome slow adoption in the additive manufacturing sector by combining the speed of 3D printing with the strength and precision of traditional metal fabrication. The company uses a patented “friction stir deposition” process that Courtright invented while working for NASA. He said the process can cut production time by as much as 98% compared with conventional manufacturing.
“There are too many steps, too many parts and too much waste,” Courtright said. “Defense and aerospace customers cannot wait for parts. When a rocket waits in a factory, we lose as a nation.”
Courtright said LeapFast’s technology allows manufacturers to produce large metal parts in a fraction of the time. The company, now based at YBI’s additive manufacturing campus, plans to serve aerospace, defense, transportation and energy clients.
“With all the manufacturing skills, the heritage, the infrastructure, the local workforce, there’s no place more fitting for LeapFast’s journey to begin than Youngstown,” he said.
While the sharks chose LeapFast as their winner, the audience voted for Gizmo and Trinket as their favorite startup of the night. Represented by Jeff Cochran, the company introduced The Oracle, a device that lets tabletop gamers use their real dice during online play by automatically reading and transmitting results to virtual platforms.
In virtual gameplay, “you have to use a random number generator to simulate the behavior of dice, and it’s just boring,” Cochran told the audience. “We’ve created a way for players to use their dice online, anywhere, anytime.”
Thursday’s event once again broke attendance and sponsorship records. Shark Tank saw more than 750 people in attendance and brought in 83 sponsors, including 25 new sponsors. All three were records for the event.
The annual Shark Tank fundraiser serves as YBI’s primary funding event and is one of the region’s most anticipated business showcases. Each of the four pitching companies received $5,000, with an additional $10,000 top prize sponsored by Medical Mutual and a $5,000 audience choice award.
Before the pitches began, YBI CEO Barb Ewing took the stage to announce Youngstown Business Incubator would now have a new name and logo.
“As of today, we are dropping the name Youngstown Business Incubator, and we will just be YBI,” Ewing said. “The truth is that we are no longer just an incubator, and we have never just supported Youngstown companies. We’re a regional economic development organization, and our brand needs to reflect that.”
Ewing unveiled a new logo and tagline, “Where Grit Meets Growth,” to reflect the organization’s expanding reach.
“Just like with FedEx, there is an arrow at the top of the “Y” pointing to the future,” she said. “YBI will always be looking at what can be, rather than backwards at what was.”
This year’s shark panel featured Don Thomas, managing partner at Platz Realty; Amy Abruzere, owner of Grey Boutique; Rob Komara, co-owner of Komara Jewelers; Wayne Mackey, founder and CEO of Statespace; and RT Vernal of RT Vernal Paving and Excavating.
A sixth chair was auctioned off during the event, and after a lively round of bidding led by auctioneer Chris Roman, the spot sold for $5,500 to Brianna Komara, Rob Komara’s sister.
The other finalists were Nivalon Medical, which is developing a patient-specific, motion-preserving spinal implant, and Rapt, which is creating an AI-powered Bible study app that generates personalized devotionals.
Much like Matt Hooper in the film that inspired the event’s theme, LeapFast managed to swim with the sharks and survive. Thankfully, no one left in as bad a shape as Quint, with each startup surfacing with $5,000 to fuel its next step.
However, if the event continues to grow, YBI, like Chief Brody and his crew, may soon be in need of a bigger boat.
“This one’s truly been one for the books,” said John Reed, chairman of YBI’s board. Reed told the crowd that the annual Shark Tank has become one of the Mahoning Valley’s signature events. “It’s the second biggest thing in the Valley, only second to Panerathon,” Reed said. “And we’re on their tail.”
Pictured at top: LeapFast’s Zac Courtright celebrates with YBI and the sharks.