KC Biohub leader bullish on Tech Hubs funding after region missing from latest grants list
January 14, 2025 | Startland News Staff
Kansas City is still in the running for a chunk of the remaining $280 million in expected funding for federal Tech Hubs implementation grants, said Melissa Roberts Chapman, emphasizing the region remains primed and competitive in the process despite the KC BioHub not being among the latest awardees announced by the program.
Six other projects — including $29 million for a critical mineral processing effort led by the University of Missouri System — were awarded shares of $210 million Tuesday through the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA)’s Tech Hubs initiative — a flagship program of the Biden-Harris Administration aimed at advancing U.S. leadership in technologies and industries critical to national security.
“While this is a disappointing development for the KC BioHub, it does not change our belief that our work will be in the top tier of competitiveness when we are given an opportunity to revise it,” said Roberts Chapman, president and regional innovation officer for KC BioHub, in a message to supporters of the regional biotech campaign.
KC BioHub aims to strengthen the domestic production of critical vaccines and preventative technologies while nurturing collaboration across various sectors. This effort will position the Kansas City region as a leader in biologics and biomanufacturing, ensuring the U.S. plays a vital role in global health security, according to the initiative.
“[Tuesday’s announcement] does not change our knowledge that this work is worthy of many different kinds of support, including Tech Hubs funding,” Roberts Chapman added.
The EDA designated the KC BioHub — a coalition led by the BioNexus KC — as a Tech Hub in October 2023. Groups backing the initiative joined forces this spring to submit a $75 million funding proposal via the Tech Hubs program. While the plan failed to gain traction in Washington, D.C., the KC BioHub in July was awarded $500,000 in federal dollars to keep the effort moving forward.
A revised KC BioHub proposal was submitted to the EDA in late 2024, but the latest round of funding announced Tuesday was based on submissions from applications nearly a year ago, said Roberts Chapman, meaning KC BioHub is still in consideration for future awards.
Melissa Roberts Chapman, president and regional innovation officer for KC BioHub, center, discusses Kansas City economic opportunities during a September 2024 Back2KC event; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Because regional leaders incorporated the EDA’s feedback into the KC BioHub’s late 2024 proposal, she continued, Roberts Chapman is confident their previous concerns have been addressed, positioning the application for success.
“The EDA will run another call for proposals later this year — open to designees that have not yet received implementation funding — to deploy the remaining $280 million in expected funding,” she said. “We are working extremely hard to be among the awardees announced at that time.”
The KC BioHub also is moving aggressively to ensure that its work is funded more broadly than by the Tech Hubs competition alone, Roberts Chapman added.
“While it’s OK to be disappointed by this setback, we are all in control of what happens next,” she continued. “We can choose to stay focused, keep working hard, and stay optimistic about the future, as I truly am. Our region and our country need our efforts to succeed, and we have a lot more work to do.”
2025 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Cafe Cà Phê returns to the West Bottoms with second location for KC’s popular Vietnamese coffee shop
A Cafe Cà Phê satellite location inside 12th Street Post in the West Bottoms is the perfect step for continuing the mission of Kansas City’s only Vietnamese coffee shop, shared founder Jackie Nguyen. Just shy of the one year anniversary of its Columbus Park space, Cafe Cà Phê celebrated the grand opening of its new…
She wanted to bring her favorite foodie magazine to KC; her mother’s sudden death put this publisher’s plans on the back burner
Lauren Cook’s passion for Edible Communities magazine drove her appetite to revive it in Kansas City, she shared, but an unexpected life change has her hoping to hand the publisher’s apron to someone else. Cook purchased the license to publish the city-specific food magazine — each independently run by publishers in metros across the country…
Digital Sandbox alum earns new round of funding — this time for sports tech; Meet the latest batch of just-funded startups
From making the college admissions process easier for students to summarizing books and podcasts using artificial intelligence, the latest startups to join Digital Sandbox KC are a great example of the creativity of this region’s entrepreneurs, said Jill Meyer. The four newly selected companies are expected to receive up to $20,000 in project funding and…
Her red sauce is dynamite but Ragazza’s owner gives the chef title to her Italian heritage
Family is baked into the core of Laura Norris’ restaurants, she shared, from the Italian recipes served at Ragazza in Westport to the brother-sister duo running the new Enzo Wine Bar and Bistro together in the River Market. She opened Ragazza, which now sits at the corner of 43rd and Main streets, in 2013 and…