Recap: Bill would gut Kansas Bioscience Authority
May 19, 2015 | Bobby Burch
A bill in the Kansas legislature if passed would dissolve the Kansas Bioscience Authority, which has recently served as a venture capital organization investing in early-stage bioscience firms.
The measure — SB 305 — would shut down the organization and transfer its funds and obligations to the Kansas Department of Commence.
Proponents of the KBA say that the dissolution of the KBA aims to help fill a projected $406 million shortfall in the Kansas budget. The bill’s sole supporter, Steven Anderson, a lobbyist for the Kansas Policy Institute and formerly Gov. Sam Brownback’s budget director, said the KBA’s mission is better served by the private sector, according to the Wichita Eagle.
Founded in 2004, the KBA invests in animal and human health, agribusiness and life sciences. It’s invested in such companies as Flow Forward, Metactive, Aratana and Innara Health.
KBA chief executive Duane Cantrell said the current value of KBA assets held in startup investments is $32 million to $34 million, according to the Kansas City Star. Cantrell reportedly testified to the Legislature that his organization has nabbed back assets worth $19 million through portfolio companies’ initial public offerings or exits.
For more information on this story, check out these links:
Kansas City Business Journal: Kansas Bioscience Authority fans voice support at the Capitol
Topeka Capital Journal: Senate explores bill closing state’s bioscience agency
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Serial entrepreneur jumps back into the founder seat with smart online advertising platform
Two years after becoming a twice-exited startup founder, Matt Watson is back at the helm of a new venture: At Capacity — a smart advertising platform geared toward small business owners who offer home services like plumbing, HVAC, and electrical work. Serving as co-founder of At Capacity alongside Meg Stapleton, Watson said the company officially…
TikTok’s favorite moving company pivots to full-time influencer business, growing LGM Boys brand
Kansas City’s highest rated moving company has packed up its operations. The group of friends who started the business — Let’s Get Moving — made the strategic move to pivot their venture to full-time digital content creation. “We started a moving business to help make money to allow us to do what we wanted to…
Teens team with MADE MOBB to raise funds in KC’s Northeast; their tee to support the unhoused was just a start
Vu Nguyen considers MADE MOBB to be a creative hub, he shared. Two of the latest collaborators with Crossroads-based streetwear brand are students at Ryogoku Soccer Academy. “Everybody’s invited,” said Nguyen, who co-founded MADE MOBB — one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023 — in 2013 and owns the business alongside…
Marcell Coffee owners launching ‘Take Care’ retail concept, OLEO brand in Crossroads
The roasting minds behind a successful Kansas City wholesale coffee operation are switching business blends — planning a Crossroads storefront anchored by a new, retail-only coffee brand. Christopher Oppenhuis and Mark Sappington, the founders and owners of the wholesale roasting company Marcell Coffee, are preparing for the fall opening of their first retail concept, “Take…