Kauffman Foundation dishes $840K to 8 area accelerators
May 30, 2017 | Bobby Burch
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is hitting the gas on its support of area accelerator programs.
As part of the 2016 KC Accelerator Challenge, the Kauffman Foundation announced Tuesday that it’s awarded a total of $840,000 in grants to eight local venture accelerator programs.
“Our goal is to increase entrepreneurial success in Kansas City through high-quality support programs because we know from recent research that more startups lead to higher productivity, wage growth and quality of life for the entire community,” Kauffman Foundation CEO Wendy Guillies said in a release. “We believe the startups are empowered when they connect to established resources. The KC Accelerator Challenge directly supports organizations that are demonstrably increasing early-stage entrepreneurs’ success and accelerating business through growth.”
The foundation’s accelerator challenge aims to cultivate the area’s entrepreneurial ecosystem through accelerators that provide mentoring, access to resources and other services helping entrepreneurs scale their companies. Grant recipients are required to meet a funding match of Kauffman Foundation funds.
Victor Hwang, vice president of entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation, said that accelerators are key to a vibrant entrepreneurial community.
“Kansas City has many of the ingredients for a strong ecosystem for entrepreneurs,” Hwang said in a release. “The KC Accelerator Challenge is part of the Kauffman Foundation’s comprehensive approach to address barriers that too many of our entrepreneurs face in Kansas City and the Midwest.”
Area accelerator organizations receiving grants and sponsorships are:
- BetaBlox
- Enterprise Center of Johnson County’s Investment Bootcamp
- Helzberg Entrepreneurial Mentoring Program’s Amp Up
- Sprint Accelerator
- Techstars Kansas City
- Project United Knowledge
- Rightfully Sewn
- ScaleUp! Kansas City
The challenge is part of the Kauffman Foundation’s Zero Barriers movement, which is a national campaign to address barriers that entrepreneurs face. Another program within Zero Barriers is Inclusion Open, a grant program that aims to enable champions of underrepresented entrepreneurs to expand their services to topple barriers.
Featured Business
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
1 Million Cups KC move to Plexpod Westport Commons percolating
1 Million Cups — Kansas City’s most-popular entrepreneur event series — is brewing a move to the area’s largest coworking community. After six years of hosting the entrepreneurial showcase event at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, 1MCKC is moving its weekly program to Plexpod Westport Commons. 1 Million Cups began in Kansas City in April…
Lawrence-based Ainstein taking flight with jetpack founder in Red Bull Air Race
When the founder of JetPack Aviation blasts to the sky later this month in Red Bull’s Air Race World Championship, it will be a testament to the innovation and quality at Ainstein, a Kansas radar tech firm, said Bryan C. Boots. “Although our products are widely deployed today in unmanned aviation (drone) applications, this will…
CreativeMornings KC relaunches with art culture, business community in focus
Artists are George Brooks’ people, the Crema co-founder and a co-host of the newly relaunched CreativeMornings KC guild said. “I love that CreativeMornings fosters the idea that we can all view our work, hobbies, and life through lenses of creativity,” Brooks said. “By bringing together a community of people who value creativity, it bridges the…
Advancing women as important now as ever, says STEMMy Awards leader
Women leave tech-intensive industries at a higher rate than their male counterparts because of a lack of encouragement and support, said Renee Keffer, citing a 2014 report by Catalyst. The fifth annual STEMMy Awards Gala aims to change that narrative in Kansas City, Keffer, co-chair of the event, said, but organizers need help: Nominations remain…