What Happened?
Several major cities in the middle of the country are offering tech startups with grants and incentives in an effort to spur innovation and boost economic growth.
CincyTech
In Cincinnati, a public-private investor has launched to provide capital and resources to technology-based startups in the regional economy. CincyTech is investing in technology companies that will create jobs for local communities while generating returns for investors. CincyTech is made up of more than 20 different organizations including:
- Foundations
- Corporations
- Municipalities
- Individual investors
CincyTech was designed to spur innovation and maintain an entrepreneurial assistance climate in Cincinnati that will attract young tech companies and entrepreneurs to the city. Investors are specifically looking to support four technology sectors:
- Enterprise software, business software applications and technology-enabled services
- Digital marketing technologies and consumer digital companies
- Bioscience products
- Digital health care/informatics
Once these startups have taken root in Cincinnati, more venture capitalist firms will direct resources toward the local economies. This, in turn, will support a network for technology companies around the Cincinnati region.
LaunchKC
The nonprofit LaunchKC was recently created in collaboration with the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City as party of a citywide effort to boost economic growth of technology startups locally. LaunchKC is introducing a national business model competition that will allocate 10 non-dilutive grants of $50,000 each to technology startup companies that set up shop in downtown Kansas City.
The overall goal of the nonprofit workforce development program is to build momentum in the Kansas City IT sector with business and job growth. The organization is dedicating to investing in key vertical sectors of the Kansas City economy that would benefit from new, innovative ideas, with a focus on:
- Advanced manufacturing
- Animal health
- Cloud services
- Data analytics
- EdTech
- FinTech
- HealthTec
- Mobile
- Real Estate tech
All winning startups will receive $50,000 grants as well as access to:
- Mentors
- Entrepreneurs
- Investors
- Legal expertise
- Venture capitalists
- Investment bankers
The startups will work out of dedicated collaborative office space in Kansas City’s innovation district and connect with industry leaders to access resources and grow their businesses. After participating in a year-long business development course, the startups have the opportunity to apply for more funding moving forward.
Kentucky SBIR/STTR
The state of Kentucky offers an SBIR/STTR Resource Center that offers innovators, entrepreneurs and tech startups with financial assistance and expertise guidance on how to commercialize their ideas and turn a profit.
The workforce development program connects technology companies with the Federal Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) grant programs. Through the Kentucky initiative, tech startups and entrepreneurs can acquire:
- Phase 1: $150,000 grants to conduct feasibility studies
- Phase 2: $1 million grants for development of a prototype
- Phase 3: Commercialization of idea with nonfederal dollars
The Kentucky SBIR/STTR Resource Center analyzes each applicant and offers assistance to qualified businesses through grants as well as:
- One-on-one consultation
- Matching ideas with federal funding opportunities
- Training on proposal development
- Business resources
- Financial assistance for proposal development
- Post-award guidance
Since its launch in 2006, the Kentucky program has awarded nearly $51 million to more than 100 local companies, which have received more than $89 million in federal funds. In 2014 alone, 30 companies split $7.4 million in matching grants from the state of Kentucky.
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