Document: Techstars raising a $400M startup fund
November 28, 2017 | Startland News Staff
Accelerator and investment firm Techstars is working to raise a massive new fund to boost portfolio startups around the world.
Techstars — which operates an accelerator program in Kansas City — is now raising a $400 million fund, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund more than doubles Techstars Ventures’ $150 million fund from 2015. Techstars CEO David Cohen and Techstars partners Mark Solon and Jason Seats are all listed as fund directors, according to the filing.
The $400 million pooled investment fund should allow the venture group to make larger investments in more established ventures. Techstars has helped spark more than 1,100 companies with a collective valuation of more than $10 billion, according to the company’s data.
Based in Boulder, Colorado, Techstars operates 34 accelerators across the globe that help launch more than 300 startups each year. In exchange for 6 percent equity, Techstars startups receive $120,000, participation in the three-month accelerator program, as well as access to a global network of mentors.
In Kansas City, the firm has helped launch 40 ventures through the 2014 – 2016 Sprint Accelerator powered by Techstars and the 2017 Techstars Kansas City classes. Check out Techstars’ latest Kansas City class here.

2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Kansas City ESO icon Maria Meyers championed for bringing SourceLink to the world stage
A decades-long effort to grow inclusive entrepreneurial communities by strengthening access to critical resources began as a grassroots movement in Kansas City, said Maria Meyers, whose work recently earned her global recognition — and a rare honor in recent years for an American recipient. Meyers, the founder of SourceLink — a first-of-its-kind platform boasting more…
How this startup founder earned $200K in unrestricted, trust-based funding to transform KC’s relationship to food
Long-term community change comes one meal at a time, acknowledged one of Attane Health’s biggest supporters, reflecting on the Kansas City startup’s growth from the “spark of an idea to a full-fledged solution” — ultimately earning its founder a game-changing funding boost. The St. Louis-based Missouri Foundation for Health this month announced its inaugural Spark Prize…
Kauffman awards $5.8M funding pipeline to research how to close wealth gaps in KC, beyond
Eight newly announced research grants from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation are expected to help catalyze research-based efforts aimed at growing equitable economic mobility in Kansas City, regionally, and nationally. More than $5.8 million in research funding will be disbursed over the next three years through this first round of grantmaking through Kauffman’s new research…
KC’s top emerging business is brewing more than just beer at 18th and Vine, owners say
Winning the Emerging Small Business Award is validation that Vine Street Brewing Co. — Missouri’s first Black-owned brewery — is tapped into what the community wants and needs, two of its owners said Tuesday. “It signifies we’re moving along with purpose and that we can really lean into our goals,” explained Annie McGinnis, co-owner and…
