Edison Jumpstart grants offer early stage startups an office space entry point

A new grants program will give entrepreneurs the opportunity to “try it before you buy it” — removing a barrier to entry for young startups looking for high-end office space, said Matt Druten, announcing the Edison Jumpstart Program.

Tim Barton, Jessica Renfrew, and Matt Druten, Edison Spaces

“We’ve always said [Edison Spaces’ flexible office setup] was built by entrepreneurs for entrepreneurs,” said Druten, CEO of the development that operates two spaces in Overland Park. “[We thought] let’s back ourselves up here.”

A potentially trailblazing trial run, the Edison Jumpstart Program will accept applications from budding startups — founded within the past six to 24 months, and with teams of two to eight people. Applicants also should be startups that have secured or plan to secure seed funding within six months of applying and are in need of office space (as long as Edison Spaces has empty offices to fill), Druten said.

“You get a brand-new, fully furnished office with high-end furnishings — two to three times more spacious than other flexible office space offerings. It’s very simple,” he teased, noting key incentives startups will receive should they be awarded a temporary office within Edison Spaces, located at both 4400 and 7900 College Boulevard — with a third location housing startups in Austin, Texas.

Click here to learn more about Edison Spaces.

Space awarded to startups — at a term of three months — is valued at $6,600, the company revealed.

The payoff of offering startups a trial run at Edison Spaces will ideally turn into a healthy roster of tenants for the development, Druten added.

“What we’ve seen since we opened the business two years ago, is that while we have flexible office space, our tenants really don’t leave once they get accustomed to the quality and the ease of the office,” he said of the program that doubles as an experiment in innovative marketing.

“[Program applicants are] all working from home. They really need to be in an office space, but then you have the financial component,” he continued. “[We’re] kind of removing that barrier so people can start to see the additional productivity they can get out of being in an office, having a real address, having meeting rooms, conference rooms, network printers — all that’s taken care of.”

Applications for the Edison Jumpstart program are now live and can be submitted here.