Funding

Regional Roundup

Fighting the Silicon Valley monster and why startups leave the Midwest

Here’s this week’s dish on the booming ed tech sector, how other communities can contend with Silicon Valley and the realities of startup relocation. Check out more in this series here. Biz News: How the rest of America can compete with Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is the “center of the new-business universe,” according to Dileep…

Dickson: Kansas City’s ‘show me’ mentality is stagnating its startups

Editor’s note: Net-zero home-building startup Acre Designs, which found its start in Kansas City, recently entered the world’s best business accelerator program: Y Combinator. After facing a tepid investor market in Kansas City, the company will be staying in the San Francisco area after the program’s conclusion. Kansas City fosters an enviable work ethic, steady…

Dundee, Lewis & Clark VCs aim to raise Kansas City’s risk capital tide

Kansas City boasts a hearty roster of attractive early-stage investment opportunities. And that’s why two Midwestern venture capital firms with fresh funds are making the Kansas City area a key part of their investment strategies. Both Omaha-based Dundee Venture Capital and St. Louis-based Lewis & Clark Ventures are eyeing Kansas City-area startups for deals varying…

LaunchKC delivering another $500K in 2016

Kansas City’s popular grant competition, LaunchKC, will be doling out another $500,000 in 2016 to startups around the world. LaunchKC in April will open the application period for its international competition, which will issue ten $50,000 grants to winners during the second-annual Techweek Kansas City conference. Drew Solomon, vice president of business and job development…

5 reasons your startup isn’t attracting investors

Last week, Techstars managing director John Fein told us that one of the main complaints he hears from Kansas City investors is that there aren’t enough fundable startups. Investors may be right, but it’s not necessarily a lack of good ideas. Today, Kansas City investors are looking for more than the next big idea: they’re…