Emerging KC space tech startup relocating to Colorado to build autonomous factory
August 12, 2025 | Tommy Felts
A space tech startup that shot into orbit from its West Bottoms headquarters in Kansas City has announced plans to build its first smart factory in Colorado — relocating operations to Broomfield to join the Centennial State’s “robust aerospace and defense ecosystem.”
“Colorado is home to some of the best aerospace, defense, and manufacturing talent in the country,” Raven Space Systems said in a LinkedIn post announcing the relocation and hiring efforts. “As we scale our production of high-performance composite parts with our MAD 3D printing technology, proximity to industry partners and top-tier talent is critical.”
The company is developing 3D printed hypersonic flight testbed vehicles for the defense and space industries to accelerate the development of hypersonic materials and technologies.
Raven expects to create up to 392 net new jobs at the Colorado site, at an average annual wage of $130,867, according to a press release from the Colorado Office of Economic Development and International Trade.
The Colorado Economic Development Commission approved up to $5,852,666 in a performance-based Job Growth Incentive Tax Credit for the company over an eight-year period — contingent on Raven meeting net new job creation and salary requirements, the economic development agency said.
One of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2024, Raven announced a $1.8 million STTR (Small Business Technology Transfer) Phase II contract — awarded by AFWERX, an innovation arm within the Air Force Research Laboratory — in November. It also logged a $2 million pre-seed round and landed a patent for its Microwave Assisted Deposition (MAD) 3D printing innovation.
Blake Herren, Raven Space Systems, speaks in January 2024 at UMKC during a founder panel conversation during Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2024 seminar and reception; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News
Co-founders Blake Herren and Ryan Cowdrey later were honored by Forbes 30 Under 30 in the 2025 Manufacturing and Industry category.
LaunchKC winners in November 2023: Steven Coen, SaRA Health; Jannae Gammage, Foresight; Neelima Parasker, Lotus TMS; Learie Hercules, Heft IQ; Holly Andra Small, Lotus TMS; Triumfia Houmbie Fulks and Sedric Hibler, CodeAlgo Academy; Ryan Cowdrey and Blake Herren, Raven Space Systems; photo by Mark McDonald, Downtown Council
Herren declined to further discuss the relocation and Raven’s plans for building the autonomous composite manufacturing facility in Broomfield, though he expressed gratitude for support shown to the startup during its time in Kansas City.
The startup was founded as Raven 3D Printing in 2020 after Herren and Cowdrey, an Overland Park native, met at the University of Oklahoma, each exploring the possibilities of 3D printing.
They relocated the company to Kansas City in 2021, eventually earning local funding through LaunchKC and Digital Sandbox KC.
“When we moved to KC, we had a very early-stage proof of concept 3D printing innovation,” Herren told Startland News previously. “We didn’t know what it was truly capable of. … While developing this revolutionary innovation, we discovered a growing need in the space industry.”
2025 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Tesseract taps into KC’s sticky innovation culture with homegrown partnership to build IoT tools
A new partnership between a leading robotics creator and one of its fellow Kansas City tech innovators showcases the founder’s longstanding commitment to harnessing the region’s potential as a collaboration powerhouse. “When I moved back to Kansas City to start Tesseract, I made up my mind to lead by example and attempt to build close…
A weakness today can be KC’s superpower tomorrow: Call for corporate engagement begins with CEOs
Editor’s note: The following story was sponsored by KC Rising, a regional initiative to help Kansas City grow faster and more intentionally, as part of a campaign to promote its CEO-to-CEO Challenge on supplier diversity. Successful entrepreneurial ecosystems require a certain level of corporate engagement — and even stewardship — said Neal Sharma, noting the…
‘Supplier diversity is deceptively difficult’: How to boost diverse small businesses without tokenizing them
Editor’s note: The following story was sponsored by KC Rising, a regional initiative to help Kansas City grow faster and more intentionally, as part of a campaign to promote its CEO-to-CEO Challenge on supplier diversity. Successful efforts to promote increased, consistent spending with more diverse small businesses must start with C-Suite buy-in, Christine Kelly said,…
Meet the 12 KC companies pledging to buy from diverse vendors; Join them in the CEO-to-CEO Challenge
Editor’s note: The following story was sponsored by KC Rising, a regional initiative to help Kansas City grow faster and more intentionally, as part of a campaign to promote its CEO-to-CEO Challenge on supplier diversity. A dozen high-profile Kansas City companies are at the vanguard of a new regional effort to boost supplier diversity programs…