Making KC America's Most Entrepreneurial City

16 Pages·2017·5.12 MB·English

Making KC America’s Most
Entrepreneurial City: Year 4
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# CITY FOR
BUSINESS
GROWTH
Wendover-InsightPRM
Business Growth Report, 2016
6
# BEST CITY FOR
CREATIVES
Smart Asset
WE CREATE HOPE
wecreatekc.com/dahlquist
ENTREPRENEURS SEE POSSIBILITIES
CHRIS DAHLQUIST PHOTOGRAPHY
KCMO | MICROENTERPRISE
Artists disrupt, innovate, challenge and shape our perception of the world, yet: “Many artists
don’t identify with the word entrepreneur,” says Chris Dahlquist, visual artist, mentor and
facilitator for Artist INC. “However, artists have the same needs and require the same support
as traditional entrepreneurs: it is often just the vocabulary that is different.”
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WE CREATE
ENTREPRENEURSHIP
It starts with a great idea. Yes, we all have ideas. But
entrepreneurs take them and
A new, tech spin on an ab-roller.
create new realities.
A way to boost tomato yields.
Improving businesses’ access to And we, the community that
working capital. An insatiable supports them, create
drive to help people get healthy. entrepreneurship.
But an idea is just an inkling, a Entrepreneurs don’t go it alone—
fleeting notion—until it’s put in and in KC, they don’t have to.
the hands of an entrepreneur.
KCSourceLink, comprising 230+
Those hands craft imagination, business-building organizations
embrace risk and knead and thousands of experienced
possibilities. Those hands test consultants, mentors, coaches,
and fortify and sometimes community builders, investors
even abandon fledgling ideas. and, yes, entrepreneurs, has
And the ideas that survive? created an infrastructure
Entrepreneurs shape and to support and measure
share them with the world entrepreneurship. Together,
as new products, services we help educate, coach, train
and businesses. and guide entrepreneurs down
the right path. We make
Entrepreneurs create jobs. New
serendipitous collisions and
and young companies account
collaborations possible. We
for nearly all net new job
match people to people and
creation in the United States,
track entrepreneurial needs,
and in Kansas City, an average
successes and gaps.
of 4,400 startups* hire their first
employees each year. Our local economy and our
future rely on the ideas, jobs and
Which means that entrepreneurs
hope that entrepreneurs create.
create economic empowerment
And entrepreneurs rely on us.
and independence. They create
a strong economy. They create Because in the end,
new dreams and futures. entrepreneurship requires
all hands. And only together
do We Create KC.
*Startup is defined as first-time employers in
the nine-county, Kansas City area who paid for
unemployment insurance in Kansas or Missouri.
GET TO THE ART OF ARTCAP,
ENTREPRENEURSHIP a new microloan from
INTERURBAN ARTHOUSE
AltCap, helps arts
purchased a building to
entrepreneurs grow
house its new community
their businesses.
ARTIST INC studio, exhibition and
has connected 1,000+ artists to classroom space.
resources and opportunities to
develop their entrepreneurial skills GUILDIT
and strengthen their artistic practice. provides a biweekly forum
for artists and makers to
share their stories.
WE CREATE KC 3
KC WATCH LIST
Keep a close eye on these
companies, movers and shakers
who are turning disruptive ideas
into sought-after businesses. These
companies received funding in
2016—grant or investment—and
received at least one other round
of funding in 2015 or 2016.
The Agreeable Company
Ansera Analytics
blooom*
C2FO**
ELIAS Animal Health*
Farmobile
HylaPharm*
IDENTIFiD
Innara Health*
InnovaPrep
JobShakers
LaborChart
LendingStandard***
Mobility Designed*
Moblico**
MyCroft
PayIt
PerfectCube*
PlanIT Impact
Play-it Health
PopBookings**
QM Power
Revaluate WHAT DO KC NUMBER OF COMPANIES
RiskGenius* THAT EXPERIENCED REVENUE
ENTREPRENEURS
ShotTracker** CHANGES IN 2015–2016
LOOK LIKE?
Shoutz
SLCKET KCSourceLink surveys
SpiderOak entrepreneurs who
Super Dispatch have reached out to
TreVia Digital Health us for assistance.
VideoFizz*
WATCH LIST GRAD
EyeVerify
EyeVerify, on our watchlist
since 2013, sold to Alibaba
for a reported $100+MM.
MID-CONTINTENT
*Number of years on the KCSourceLink Watch List, a PUBLIC LIBRARY
testimony to the growth and stamina of these companies.
HEALTHY LIFESTYLES hosts an in-depth
RELY ON HEALTHFUL class tailored to the
Source: Various public sources and private databases
CONNECTIONS food truck industry.
4 4 KCKSCOSUORUCRECLEILNIKNK
RIPE CONNECTIONS
YIELD HEALTHY
BUSINESSES
CHRIS GOODE
RUBY JEAN’S JUICERY
KCMO | MAIN STREET
In 2016, Chris announced the opening
of his second location, from the porch of
the eponymous Ruby Jean’s house, his
late-grandmother who inspired the healthful
startup and juicery. Chris celebrated by giving
away 11 gallons of juice to the neighborhood.
“Ruby Jean lived with a great sense of love
and genuineness. I strive to do the same.”
WE CREATE CHOICES
wecreatekc.com/rubyjeans
BY EDUCATION
BY AGE
WHERE THEY SELL THEIR PRODUCTS
Source: KC Entrepreneurship Survey 2017
MID-CONTINTENT ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT UMKC SBTDC
PUBLIC LIBRARY CORPORATION OF KANSAS CITY
offers counseling and courses, including
helps businesses with relocation, two Chris took: FastTrac® NewVentureTM
incentives and workforce development. and GrowthVentureTM.
GREATER KC CHAMBER’S FARM TO TABLE KITCHEN
Healthy KC partnership advances is an incubator for farmers’
individual, organizational and market vendors, food trucks WE CREATE KC 5
environmental health change. and other food artisans.
From left to right: Sanjay Gupta, John Christopher, Erin Carney, Alexander “Sandy” Kemper,
Pete Thomas, Dru Shiner. Not pictured: Kerri Thurston, Kevin Daniels.
290% INCREASE IN AVAILABLE CAPITAL FOR KC ENTREPRENEURS
KCSourceLink has been tracking the
pools of investment capital available to
early-stage companies in Kansas City.
Funds include grant programs (e.g., Digital
Sandbox KC and LaunchKC); angel groups
(e.g., Mid-America Angels, Women’s Capital
Connection, Northland Angel Investor
Network); KC-based funds (e.g., Flyover
Capital, Firebrand Ventures, KCRise Fund);
and firms based outside Kansas City that
have indicated significant interest in
investing in KC area companies (Lewis &
Clark Venture Capital, Dundee Venture
Capital, Drive Capital).
wecreatekc.com/dashboard
Combined value of early-stage funds available to KC entrepreneurs
KCRISE FUND
KC IS FAST BECOMING A HUB
FOR STARTUP FUNDING invested a total of $2MM
NORTHLAND ANGEL
INVESTOR NETWORK in five KC companies
this past year.
made its first
investment in 2016.
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INVEST IN IDEAS THAT
SHAPE THE FUTURE
C2F0
FAIRWAY, KS | INNOVATION-LED
C2FO is a financial technology company and
the creator of the first market for working capital
with members such as Costco, Pfizer, Nordstrom
and many more—and Sandy Kemper believes
Kansas City is the ideal location from which to
continue to grow.
“This entrepreneurial community believes that
supporting one another is essential and vital. That
kind of intentional investment is what will continue
to make KC a better place to live and do business.”
WE CREATE CAPITAL
wecreatekc.com/c2fo
NUMBER OF INVESTMENTS IN KC COMPANIES
Source: Various public sources and private databases
FIREBRAND VENTURES
made two investments, one of
MID-AMERICA ANGELS
AND THE WOMEN’S which resulted in a Baltimore
CAPITAL CONNECTION startup relocating to KC.
invested a record $3.6 million
via 15 deals in 2016. WE CREATE KC 7
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# BEST CITY
FOR WOMEN
IN TECH
SmartAsset
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# BEST METRO
FOR WOMEN
IN BUSINESS
WalletHub
4,679 KC STARTUPS HIRED THEIR
FIRST EMPLOYEES IN 2015
AN AVERAGE OF
KC’s entrepreneurs launch new businesses that create jobs and
spark economic growth. On average, 4,400 KC-area startups 4,400
hire their first employees each year.*
The number of first-time employers has been consistent across
industries, with “services, education, administration” ranking
highest. “Innovation-led” accounts for about 12.5 percent of the
startups in 2015. This includes a wide range of firms, including FIRST-TIME
aerospace, architectural engineering, computer hardware
and software, telecommunications, pharmaceutical/medicine
production and scientific research. Health care services jumped
EMPLOYERS
after 2012 due in part to a change in industry classification from
other services into health care services.
*Startup is defined as first-time employers in the nine-county, Kansas City area who paid for
unemployment insurance in Kansas or Missouri.
KC STEM ALLIANCE
GET HELP NAVIGATING
OPPORTUNITIES partners with Cerner to
HELZBERG ENTREPRENEURIAL
MENTORING PROGRAM sponsor Girls in Tech KC.
matches seasoned entrepreneur
mentors with tomorrow’s
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entrepreneurial drivers.
CAUTION:
JOBS AHEAD
BRANDY McCOMBS
INTERNATIONAL BUILDERS
& CONSULTANTS, INC.
KCMO | SECOND-STAGE
If you navigated around orange cones and vests
during the streetcar line construction in downtown
Kansas City, you saw Brandy’s company hard at
work. “We started a new division that handled
traffic control services. I hired 15 full-time
employees, an opportunity I owe to intentional
networking and the hospitality of Kansas City’s
business community.”
WE CREATE THE FUTURE
wecreatekc.com/ibc
WHICH STARTUP INDUSTRIES ARE HIRING THEIR FIRST EMPLOYEES?
AN AVERAGE OF
4,400
FIRST-TIME
EMPLOYERS
Source: Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages for Kansas and Missouri
YOUR PIECE OF THE PIE
partners with Cerner to teaches entrepreneurial skills
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION KC SMARTPORT
sponsor Girls in Tech KC. OF WOMEN BUSINESS to school-age children.
works to attract
OWNERS–KANSAS CITY,
freight-based
which Brandy leads, creates a strong
companies to KC.
community to support growing WE CREATE KC 9
women-owned businesses.
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P FUTURE
O READY
T ECONOMY
Dell
NUMBER OF HOMEGROWN
INNOVATIONS PRIMED
AND READY FOR THE
RIGHT LEADER
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Amazing ideas require resources, teams and
expertise that can move them to market. 29
Whiteboard2Boardoom curates innovations
from 21 research institutions—corporations, 18
universities and small businesses—and
matches them with entrepreneurs who
have the expertise to commercialize them.
SOFTWARE
ANIMAL HEALTH AND COMPUTER
AND VET MED AG SCIENCE PROGRAMMING
wecreatekc.com/dashboard
Number of homegrown innovations available for licensing through Whiteboard2Boardroom
BIOKANSAS
REAP WHAT
YOU SOW WHITEBOARD2BOARDROOM connects companies
with a community and
launched TechAlert to connect
events to help them grow.
companies with cutting-edge
innovations, like the tech
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behind TerraManus.