‘The American dream is the Midwest’: LaunchKC powers next generation of startup job creators

Editor’s note: The following is part of an ongoing feature series exploring impacts of initiatives within the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City through a paid partnership with EDCKC.

Relocating to Kansas City after winning a LaunchKC grant — and the community and infrastructure support that comes with it — gives Russel Karim’s startup a centralized hub from which it can reach coast to coast, and even global partners.

Russel Karim, SourceEazy, pitches during LaunchKC’s 2024 event; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“We’re changing the game,” said Karim, co-founder and CEO of SourceEazy, which reimagines how custom products are designed, sourced and distributed. “The vision is we’re going to be building probably one of the biggest companies in this space in Kansas City.”

SourceEazy’s technology combines elements of Shopify, Alibaba and Custom Ink, he explained, streamlining the $170 billion global branded merchandise market. Karim describes it as an “AI operating system” that turns designs into ready-to-order products with unprecedented speed and accuracy.

The metro’s location, workforce, and affordability sealed the deal on relocation, he added, detailing the decision to move the company from Des Moines — a requirement to accept the LaunchKC funding.

“We’re not a flyover state anymore,” Karim said. “If you think about supply chain … if you set up your centralized distribution channel in the Midwest, you can go east and west. That’s very cost effective. And people are tired of hustling in the bigger cities – they want to raise a family in good schools. The American dream is the Midwest.”

A winner in LaunchKC’s grants competition in 2024, SourceEazy already is seeing the impact of the popular program, which is coordinated by the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City (EDCKC) and Downtown Council.

“The biggest value that LaunchKC brought for us was not just the community and not just all the resources they pulled together,” Karim said. “It’s also the people behind it: the connections they bring to the table to really grow each business.”

Click here to learn more about applying for LaunchKC’s latest grants competition. The deadline to apply is Wednesday, Sept. 24.

LaunchKC is revving up again — preparing to unveil yet another cohort of entrepreneurs — at its signature LaunchKC Liftoff event during Global Entrepreneurship Week-Kansas City in November.

Nearly 130 companies have already passed through the program since its 2015 debut, with LaunchKC positioned at a critical stage within a startup’s journey, ensuring more homespun innovation survives and thrives — and grows the metro’s bottom line, said Jim Erickson, a core organizer for LaunchKC and director of strategic initiatives at EDCKC.

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“Launch KC is set up directly between the stage of company that Digital Sandbox supports and the stage of company the KC Rise Fund and Missouri Technology Corporation are prepared to work with,” he explained.

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Erickson and team work with companies that are post-MVP (minimum viable product) and under a few million dollars in revenue, and this critical stage requires diverse support, he explained. 

The initiative brings in the support of city and state leaders, making LaunchKC one of Kansas City’s most visible entry points for founders seeking both funding and support, Erickson noted.

Jim Erickson, director of strategic initiatives for the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, at EDCKC’s offices in River Market; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News

Human investment strategy

For years, economic development agencies measured success in terms of attracting and retaining large employers. EDCKC and its partners have embraced an additional tactic: betting on entrepreneurs as engines of job creation.

“When you really factor out everything, all net-new job creation occurs from early stage companies and startups,” Erickson said. “So if we want to reinvigorate Kansas City, Missouri, we have to invest in an entrepreneurship strategy.”

That philosophy shaped LaunchKC’s focus on what Erickson calls the “Valley of Death” — the perilous phase after an MVP but before meaningful revenue, venture capital or even bank loans. 

Too late for proof-of-concept programs, but too early for traditional financing, founders at this stage often risk collapsing under the weight of legal, HR and myriad other growth challenges, he said.

“Our metrics could look a whole lot more impressive if we were to bend those rules and invest in companies that are more established,” Erickson concedes, “but our mission is to find companies in that vulnerable state and help secure their fortune.”

More valuable than funding

Each LaunchKC winner receives non-dilutive grants — the largest of their kind in Kansas City — but Erickson stressed the program’s greatest value lies elsewhere.

“You might be the best coffee cup designer in the world … but you might actually need help with your bookkeeping. You might need help with your intellectual property,” Erickson said of considering the unique needs of each growing company.

“What benefits packages are you putting together? Are you missing out on top talent? How do startups navigate all of those other ancillary pieces of their business besides just being the world’s best coffee cup innovator?”

That’s where LaunchKC’s programming comes in: sessions on IP, commercial leases, HR and benefits, plus mentorship from 50 to 70 volunteers each year. 

Erickson pointed to the “Innovation Lounge,” a speed-dating-style event that connects founders with corporate leaders, investors and potential clients.

“One of the things I love to hear is that founders will admit to me a couple years down the road that they thought they were coming to Launch KC for the grant,” Erickson said. “But they realized it was the partnerships, it was the capacity building and all of the other things that Launch KC provided that were far more valuable in the medium to long term.”

Proof points beyond politics

Since Erickson took over LaunchKC in 2020, the program has quadrupled its job-creation impact, he said, noting that 390 jobs associated with the Launch KC companies has jumped to 1,600 jobs today.”

Jim Erickson, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri (EDCKC), gives a presentation on LaunchKC during a summer 2024 gathering of 1 Million Cups Kansas City at the Offices at Park 39; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News

And, the portfolio has attracted more than half a billion dollars in investment. Another notable stat: Nearly 70 percent of LaunchKC companies are led by women or minority founders — a level of diversity Erickson said is “among the highest of any peer program in the nation.”

The initiative now counts 122 alumni companies, with eight more to be introduced at the November event.

Put simply, fostering founders directly supports the city’s larger economic plans, he said.

“We need that next generation of founders to begin to step up,” Erickson said. “Early stage companies have the potential to redefine our skyline for the next generation.”

And, the stats above prove the return. 

But, success hinges on partnership — drawing together not only EDCKC and Downtown Council, but officials at City Hall and in Jefferson City.

Tommy Wilson, Downtown Council, and Jim Erickson, EDCKC, share the stage during the LaunchKC Liftoff event in 2024; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Such clear, multi-level and bipartisan support underscores how entrepreneurship remains an area of broad agreement, both Erickson and Karim said.

Tommy Wilson, director of business recruitment and research with the Downtown Council, noted the required agreement between agencies is the byproduct of ongoing work that really doesn’t have a finish line. 

“As LaunchKC grows, one of our biggest opportunities is to help founders secure follow-on funding beyond the initial award,” he explained. “We’re actively exploring ways to provide additional capital ourselves while also working to expand the pool of local venture capital that cohort companies can tap into. We would like to see more of our companies receive capital from Kansas City instead of looking outside the region.”

With the support of the city and state, Wilson continued, LaunchKC and the Downtown Council spend significant time growing relationships with local investors and exploring mechanisms for LaunchKC to play a role in follow-on investment, and top-level collaboration has been and will be the key to program growth.  

LaunchKC winners in November 2024; photo courtesy of the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri

Celebrating, exposing innovation

LaunchKC Liftoff returns Nov. 17 at J. Rieger & Co. in Kansas City’s East Bottoms, promising one of the city’s largest entrepreneurship-focused gatherings, Erickson said.

The event is part pitch night, part celebration. 

“It kind of feels like Shark Tank because the companies are pitching with the only caveat that they’ve already won,” Erickson explained. “The crowd gets to really be introduced to this year’s innovators, this year’s Launch KC cohort.”

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Organizers say the point isn’t just exposure for the startups — it’s to showcase Kansas City’s innovation culture to the public, business community, and potential investors. 

Erickson hopes attendees leave with a simple message: “Wow, Kansas City is innovative. Wow, Kansas City startups are worth investing in,” he said.

As LaunchKC closes in on its 130th company, Erickson said, the program will double down on its winning mix of grants, supportive coaching and programming and connection-making. 

The goal remains clear, he said: Identify the next Hallmark or H&R Block — and keep them growing in Kansas City.

Haines Eason is the owner of startup content marketing agency Freelance Kansas. Previously he worked as a managing editor for a corporate content marketing team and as a communications professional at KU. His work has appeared in publications like The Guardian, Eater and KANSAS! Magazine among others. Learn about him and Freelance Kansas on LinkedIn.