Brad Feld contest offering a startup free rent in KC
July 7, 2015 | Bobby Burch
A prominent venture capitalist is launching an international competition in Kansas City that will offer a startup free office space in one of the area’s tech hotbeds.
Brad Feld’s ‘FiberHouse’
Brad Feld, co-founder of the Boulder-based Foundry Group, kicked off a contest Tuesday that will allow a startup to live in his Kansas City, Kan., home for one-year rent-free. Feld — who’s also co-founder of Techstars, which operates the Kansas City-based Sprint Accelerator — purchased the home in 2013 as Google Fiber first deployed its gigabit network in the area.
Feld said that the aim of the competition is to foster more innovation in Kansas City.
“I’m a huge believer that you can build startup communities anywhere,” Feld told Startland News. “I have a long relationship with Kansas City around entrepreneurship as a result of my work with the Kauffman Foundation going back to the mid-1990s. … (Kansas City) is growing and developing nicely.”
Applications to the competition are now open to companies from around the world, Feld said. Tenants are responsible for utilities at the home, however, Feld will cover the cost of Google Fiber’s connection. Feld said he will also offer mentoring to the startup that wins the competition.
Already two companies have lived in Feld’s so-called “FiberHouse” rent free, including Kansas City-based Leap.it and 3-D printing company Handprint. The house is a part of the Kansas City Startup Village, a community of entrepreneurs that serendipitously formed after Google’s installation of its fiber network.
Feld said the idea of purchasing the home came about when he bumped into Ben Barreth, founder and owner of Kansas City’s Home for Hackers program.
“I ran into Ben Barreth at the ‘Thinc Iowa’ conference and he breathlessly told me about what he was doing in Kansas City around Google Fiber and the Kansas City Startup Village,” Feld said. “I loved the idea and figured I’d participate in the KC Startup Community by buying a house in the KCSV and giving it rent free for startups.”
Applications for the contest will be accepted through Aug. 30, at which point a panel of judges will review the pool of applicants and narrow the field to five finalists.
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Contract Canvass develops tool for future dominated by freelancers
Chris Brown is working to put his law firm out of business. The Kansas City attorney — who for years has served creative professionals across the metro — recently created a contract automation tool for freelancers, eliminating a part of his business at Venture Legal. But while Contract Canvas might disrupt a facet of his…
Five inspiration points in Westport’s new Freedom design showroom (Photos)
Carol Espinosa bears a striking grin as she bounds up the steps to the rejuvenation area at Freedom Interiors. Palpable excitement beams through her voice. “This is possibly my favorite part of the showroom,” she says, pointing out the lush green carpeting, comfy seating and 360-degree view of the renovated space at 4000 Washington St.…
Brazil to KC: Carol Espinosa showcases path to creativity, opportunity
She arrived in the United States with just two suitcases and her own creativity, but today Carol Espinosa fills a 7,000-square-foot Westport storefront with enough modern workplace designs to unpack for weeks, she said. “This company was built from nothing,” said Espinosa, founder of Freedom Interiors. “It started with no customers, no product offerings —…
American buying habits push Swappa to $70M in 2017 hand-me-down tech sales
Grown from a one-person, side-hustle project to a team of more than 30 people, Kansas City-based Swappa is swelling. The user-to-user marketplace for buying and selling used technology enjoyed its best year to date in 2017. The platform sold more than $70 million in hand-me-down electronics in 2017 — up about 17 percent from 2016, said…