Created in December of 2014, LaunchKC is a national grants competition that will award up to ten $50,000 grants to early stage entrepreneurs and their tech ventures. It’s underlying mission is to provide real opportunities for startup businesses to grow and create jobs in Kansas City, Missouri.
The applicant submission process, which took place from March 31st through July 2nd, was marketed to startups all over the world in a variety of tech industries. The application review process is now currently underway and 20 finalists will be chosen by a selection committee of 41 people, including community business leaders, technology professionals, finance professionals, attorneys, angel investors, venture capitalists, and successful entrepreneurs in the Kansas City community. Finalists will be announced on September 1st.
To narrow down the winners, the 20 finalists will compete on September 18th in the afternoon during Techweek Kansas City. (More info in Techweek’s Huffington Post article: Techweek Meet Kansas City… Kansas City Meet Techweek)
Drew Solomon, the EDC’s VP of Business Development, outlines what we can expect to see happen over the next few months:
Why were all startups encouraged to apply? Isn’t LaunchKC focused on technology companies?
“We thought it was important to show that there is potential for great companies to be formed in areas outside of technology as well. Technology influences so many industries, but that doesn’t mean it a tech company and we wanted to open up the competition. The variety of applications has given us an abundance of insight into what kinds of things people are building, which will help us strategically moving forward. What are people focusing on? What problem are people trying to solve? Allowing this has given us incredibly interesting and useful data about what startups are trying to do – regionally, nationally and globally.”
What can we expect to see at the competition?
“You can expect to see some really unique and innovative companies! Nine of the finalists will be chosen from the selection committee and the audience will get to vote on the final winner. All ten winners will receive a $ 50,000 cash grant, free office space in Kansas City for a year, access to local startup mentors and groups and professional guidance on anything from marketing to finances.” You can also expect to see a packed house in terms of attendance as Kansas City is so incredibly supportive of new business ventures. Combine that with Techweek and the global resources that their conference brings to Kansas City and I feel strongly that our community will be proud.”
What does techweek coming to Kansas City mean for us?
“Techweek is one of the country’s leading technology conferences, charged with the mission of highlighting and celebrating emerging innovation ecosystems. It is a huge opportunity for Kansas City because it provides an amazing platform for us to showcase our huge startup and technology capacity. It gives us a chance to display our best and brightest entrepreneurs and help them gain national exposure for the products and services they are developing. The national speakers and education tracks are first class as well.
We want to encourage more entrepreneurs to start and grow a company right here at home because we have the resources and partners to help them, and we also want those entrepreneurs who are not Kansas City natives to know that this is a valid place to scale a business. TechweekKC creates a national platform for our city to connect, engage and shine.”
Do you plan on continuing this grant program next year and in the future?
“The purpose of this grant program is to provide a competition where Kansas City will be recognized as a viable player in the startup ecosystem. We want to make sure that there are ongoing opportunities in our city to continue that, and that our community is willing to invest in our entrepreneurs so yes, this program is already green-lighted for future years to ensure the mission continues. We have amazing funders and civic partners in this effort. The Downtown Council and many of our funders work hard to make this possible. This is only our inaugural year…. 2016 is already in the works!”
Visit LaunchKC to learn more about the grants competition and supporting sponsors.