LaunchKC ignites tech scene at SxSW Interactive - Downtown Council of Kansas City

LaunchKC, the Kansas City-based grants competition for tech startup businesses, and Techweek stepped into the global spotlight last week at the SxSW Interactive conference and forum in Austin, TX.

The event was designed to celebrate the new LaunchKC – Techweek partnership and to drive attention to the opening of the LaunchKC grants application window on Tuesday, March 31.

The LaunchKC – Techweek partnership was the focus of an evening-long reception on Monday, March 16 at the SxSW Interactive. More than 1,000 guests attended the reception at Old School Bar & Grill in Downtown Austin.

The event was sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a national leader in entrepreneurship. Techweek is the nation’s largest series of tech conferences and festivals, and will stage its first Techweek Kansas City conference in September.

“We are thrilled with the opportunity to introduce LaunchKC to the tech world at SXSW Interactive,” said Mike Hurd, marketing officer for LaunchKC and the Downtown Council. “We are looking for the best and brightest to enter the grants competition and compete to bring their business models to Kansas City.”

LaunchKC is grants competition for tech entrepreneurs to apply and compete for one of 10 (ten) $50,000 grants and a leg up in growing their business enterprises in Kansas City, Missouri.

Each eventual grant recipient will receive a $50,000 non-dilutive grant and a web of support, including 12 months of free office space in Downtown; industry-specific mentor teams for each grant recipient; and opportunities to meet and learn from industry and entrepreneurial leaders in and around Kansas City – all designed to elevate their efforts to build high-growth, tech sector businesses and jobs in Downtown Kansas City.

The LaunchKC grants competition will serve as the centerpiece of Techweek Kansas City. The grants application window opens on March 31, and closes on July 2, 2015. Following an extended application review process, the eventual grant recipients will be selected by a LaunchKC judging panel consisting of Kansas City business leaders and national venture capitalists at Techweek Kansas City on Sept. 18, 2015.

LaunchKC will contribute to a more robust startup culture and infrastructure in Kansas City, Missouri,” said Bill Dietrich, president and CEO of the Downtown Council chief administrative officer of LaunchKC. “This will strengthen our growing Innovation District in Downtown, where investors, inventors and entrepreneurs collaborate within a livable, walkable and transit-connected urban center.”

LaunchKC is an initiative of the Downtown Council of Kansas City, Missouri, working in partnership with the Economic Development Corporation. It stems from Kansas City Mayor Sly James’ bi-state innovation initiative that was established in 2013. LaunchKC was represented at SxSW by Bill Dietrich, president & CEO of the Downtown Council and chief administrative officer of LaunchKC; Bob Langenkamp, president of the Economic Development Corporation; Drew Solomon, EDC and chief of the LaunchKC grants competition; Tommy Wilson, DTC and chief of LaunchKC’s day-to-day work with the eventual grant recipient; and Hurd.

Members of the LaunchKC leadership team were joined by another 20 representatives of the Kansas City tech space at the “launch” event in Austin – including Beta Blox, Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, Influence & Co., J. Grill Media, KC Digital Drive, the Kauffman Foundation, Light Bridge Data, Sprint Accelerator, Think Big Partners and Techweek Kansas City.

LaunchKC is nonprofit, civic engine in the Kansas City tech scene. It is fueled by visionary investments from the public, private and philanthropic communities, and maintained by a broad base of collaborators in the entrepreneurial and technology space.

The bottom is line for LaunchKC is crystal clear:

Grow jobs and build new businesses in Kansas City, Missouri
Engage venture capitalists and equity investors in the tech scene of Kansas City
Elevate Kansas City’s brand as an innovation center across the country
Serve as an engine for regional and national tech talent recruitment

LaunchKC will search locally and nationally to indentify innovative entrepreneurs – the ‘real drivers,’ like mid-career professionals with expertise in existing industries to be uniquely qualified to spin off new businesses.

LaunchKC will focus on high-growth potential businesses in scalable, vertical sectors – such as Big Data via Advanced Manufacturing, AgTech, Animal Health, Data Analytics, EdTech, FinTech, HealthTech, Mobile Tech, Cloud Services and Real Estate Tech – where KC has considerable depth and expertise to aid in welcoming and support the new startups.

LaunchKC first ignited the tech space in Kansas City and the Midwest, when it was announced by the Downtown Council in January. That buzz leapt to national awareness that same day, when Techweek announced its five-year commitment to stage Techweek Kansas – because of the LaunchKC tech startup grants competition

With events in Chicago, New York City, Los Angeles, Miami and Detroit, Techweek will bring its signature approach to celebrating innovation ecosystems and high-energy format to the booming tech community in Kansas City.

To apply for a LaunchKC grant or to learn more, visit www.launchkc.org.