Beyond borders: Federal grant equips KC to build regional $5M seed fund

Pushing aside the Kansas-Missouri “border war,” a bi-state effort has earned a federal grant that will help create a $5 million fund for startups, which could begin investing as early as 2018. The Enterprise Center in Johnson County announced Monday it secured a $150,000 Economic Development Administration Seed Fund Support grant. The grant — which…

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With fund now slashed, LaunchKC alumni say MTC vital to early success

PopBookings probably wouldn’t be in business today without the early support — and more critically the investment dollars — of the Missouri Technology Corporation, Erika Klotz said. “It really allowed us to do more quicker,” the PopBookings co-founder and CEO said. “For any startup, speed is everything. It allowed us to get credibility right out…

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Leaders say Kansas City is prime for Amazon HQ2

In the wake of news Amazon is planning a second, U.S. headquarters, a group of Kansas City organizations is tossing Kansas City’s proverbial hat in the e-commerce giant’s shopping cart. Amazon announced Thursday it plans to invest more than $5 billion in a new headquarters that could create as many as 50,000 jobs in which…

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The clock is ticking: LaunchKC grants’ deadline is Friday

Startups in Kansas City and beyond have about 48 hours to apply for LaunchKC grants. The contest — which will allocate $500,000 via nine grants to startups from around the nation — will accept applications until 11:59 p.m., July 7. LaunchKC will dish out eight $50,000 grants and one $100,000 grand prize. The final round…

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Faster-than-expected visa process helps BLITAB relocate from Austria to KC

Eight months after the Austria-based firm BLITAB won a LaunchKC grant, its co-founders have finally settled into their new home of Kansas City, Mo. BLITAB — a startup that developed the world’s first tablet for blind people — was the only internationally-based firm to win a $50,000 LaunchKC grant in September. But before co-founders Kristina Tsvetanova and Slavi…

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