K-State LAB offering Kansas startups free growth resources
February 17, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
A Kansas State University business development program is awarding more than $100,000 in grants to Kansas startups.
Through K-State LAB — which stands for “launching a business” — participants will receive business lessons, face-to-face mentoring and access to market research. Launched in 2014, the program aims to connect entrepreneurs with the right people so that they can grow their ventures, director of the Kansas State center for the advancement of entrepreneurship Chad Jackson said.
“The Launch a Business program allows us to share our expertise with the community,” Jackson said in a release. “Our faculty, alumni and students are incredible resources, and we are excited to ask them to volunteer to support the next great startup ventures. We are grateful to KS State Bank for making this possible.”
Eligible startups must be based in Kansas, innovative, scalable and not have raised outside funding. Kansas City area startups including AEGLE Palette, Alvoru Clothing and Acre Designs were among the local firms that have participated in the program.
10 promising startups will be selected into the one month program, which will begin May 25 and culminate with a demo day in June. This year, the program will accept an additional five entrepreneurs who are K-State faculty or graduate students.
Applications will open March 1. For more information, visit the K-State LAB website.
Featured Business

2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Fund Me, KC: UMKC alums aim to transform recycled plastics into functional home décor
Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for business owners and innovators — like Nicole Dover and Tony Jordan, and their newly launched venture, Recyclverse — to share their crowdfunding stories and potentially…
New in KC: Elizabeth Pishny treks from farming to human trafficking, Facebook to Google, Austin to KC
Editor’s note: New in KC is an ongoing profile series that highlights newly relocated members of the Kansas City startup community, their reasons for a change of scenery, and what they’ve found so far in KC. This series is sponsored by C2FO, a Leawood-based, global financial services company. Click here to read more New in KC profiles. While Elizabeth Pishny is…
WATCH: Master craftsman builds on military career — a catalyst to avoid wasted opportunity
Tony Bien cuts lumber. He might even cut into a melon. But service in the Kansas Army National Guard taught the hands-on force behind Swell Spark’s in-house design workshop to avoid cutting corners. “I’ve been very blessed in my career with the Army and with what I am doing now,” said Bien, who serves as…
Meet six newly funded companies helping get KC’s economy ‘back on track’ with Digital Sandbox
Digital Sandbox funding is a game-changer for CuePlay — one of six companies selected for the proof of concept program’s latest cohort — said founder Rebecca Simons, who first launched the idea two years ago at Techstars’ Startup Weekend in Kansas City. “It allows us to finish the development of a beta app and get it…
