Funding Stories
5 startups enjoy growth, connections with KCMO innovation partnership
Although the government may be pegged as resistant to change, Kansas City Mayor Sly James wants to flip the script. “On a city level, we aren’t having much help from the state and federal governments sometimes,” James said at the Innovation Partnership Program demo day on Monday at WeWork Corrigan Station. “But, we still have…
With fund now slashed, LaunchKC alumni say MTC vital to early success
PopBookings probably wouldn’t be in business today without the early support — and more critically the investment dollars — of the Missouri Technology Corporation, Erika Klotz said. “It really allowed us to do more quicker,” the PopBookings co-founder and CEO said. “For any startup, speed is everything. It allowed us to get credibility right out…
Greitens eyes private investment dollars to fill MTC budget gap
A new, privately-managed innovation fund could replace a popular startup investment program that was dramatically slashed for 2018 amid Missouri’s budget crunch. The potential strategy change comes as a suggestion from the Hawthorn Foundation’s report to Missouri Gov. Eric Greitens, following the months-long work of an innovation task force charged with assessing the current state…
ECJC boot camp arming startups for angel investment round
Startups enlisted in the war for capital know the struggle: a perilous gap between seed and success. The Enterprise Center in Johnson County’s new investment boot camp aims to arm them for battle. The Pitch Perfect mini-accelerator program focuses on helping established startups advance to the next round of development by teaching such skills as…
LaunchKC reveals 2017 finalists for $500K grant pool
LaunchKC on Friday announced 20 finalists vying for $500,000 in grants. The popular grants contest will award eight startups each a $50,000 non-dilutive grant and one firm a grand prize of $100,000 after a live pitch competition at Techweek Kansas City on Sept. 15. Techweek Kansas City is scheduled from Sept. 11 to Sept. 15…
