Report: KC needs (a lot) more venture capital
October 15, 2015 | Ashley Jost
The Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute released a report that says Kansas City needs more venture capital for its biotech industry.
Just how much venture capital? That is up for debate.
Wayne Carter, Life Sciences Institute CEO, said $100 million is the common amount thrown around in conversation regarding Kansas City’s need, and while “it’s a good place to start, it’s not enough,” he said.
“Saying we need $100 million in venture capital funding is not the end game,” he said. “We need to create an entire ecosystem of funding.”
Despite a growing life sciences community that is recognized for drawing interest, risk capital investment is a weakness in the Kansas City area Carter said, summarizing the findings of the report that Life Sciences Institute and Deloitte released this month.
The report identified and prioritized opportunities for the region to be more successful in life sciences, and investment was a primary strategy.
“It’s almost like we’re pushing companies away,” Carter said. “We just don’t have money here. If you’re an early stage business in Kansas City, you’re probably going to start with meeting investors in regional states, but more than likely you’re going to have meetings in California or Massachusetts.”
And what happens if Kansas City doesn’t get to that magic number of $100 million in venture capital?
Carter said it’s likely the region will continue to grow, but at a much slower rate. Furthermore, if outside investors sign a deal with area companies, the businesses almost always relocate, meaning the region will miss out on prospective jobs, revenue and other economic opportunities.
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Silicon Valley vet Jason Anderson makes a game out of data collection
As a 4-year-old, Jason Anderson was captivated by the Atari classic Pong. He gawked at the game for hours after his dad brought one home in 1978. Four years later, he was so inspired by Pong that he decided to create his own game — a text adventure on the family’s Timex Sinclair 1000. Anderson…
Compute Midwest named top national tech conference
Consistently attracting futurists and tech leaders from around the U.S., Compute Midwest recently was named a national tech conference that shouldn’t be overlooked. Inc. Magazine included the annual, Kansas City-based conference on its “Top Tech Conferences You Can’t Miss This Fall” list, noting the event’s traditionally strong lineup of speakers. Presented by the Disruption institute,…
Dozens of skyrocketing KC firms break into the Inc. 5000
Kansas City held its own on Inc. Magazine’s annual ranking of the nation’s fastest-growing, private companies. The Wednesday unveiling of the Inc. 5000 featured 44 metro firms — including several area tech firms, like k12itc and Rhythm Engineering. K12itc, which in January made Startland’s 2016 top 10 startups to watch, delivers cloud-based IT services to…
Backstitch wants to fix a billion-dollar communication dilemma
With the cost of poor business communication climbing as high as $37 billion a year, Backstitch founders Jordan and Stefanie Warzecha saw an opportunity to clear the air. The married couple — who say communication has never been a problem for them — founded their corporate communications platform in 2012. Backstitch aims to mitigate the…