‘Entrepreneur’ ranks KC as 4th hottest for startups in U.S.

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Entrepreneur Magazine has selected Kansas City as one of nine,hot startup cities – no. 4 to be precise – that are not New York or San Francisco. KC is one of only two Midwestern cities on the top nine listing.

“Ask someone to name cities with thriving tech, media, fashion or food scenes, and you’ll hear the usual suspects: San Francisco; New York; Portland, Ore.,” Entrepreneur.com reported today. “But there’s a slew of other metro areas with established infrastructure and skilled work forces that can match those more established locations at a fraction of the cost of living and with less day-to-day stress.”

Entrepreneur’s list of the U.S.’ hottest startup marketplaces include: Salt Lake City, Baltimore, Nashville, Kansas City, Sacramento, Minneapolis-St. Paul, Houston, Boston and Los Angeles.

“These are the places where startup dreams come easier and cheaper, but can still pay off big,” Entrepreneur Magazine reported. “Start packing.”

‘Start packing’ is precisely the message echoed by LaunchKC, the global grants competition for tech entrepreneurs based in Downtown Kansas City.

 

LaunchKC is looking to award $500,000 in grants to nine startup businesses that choose to build their enterprises in Kansas City, Missouri. The winning nine businesses will be selected through the LaunchKC competition that is accepting applications online for 50 more days!

Now in its third year, LaunchKC is a platform for attracting tech entrepreneurs and their early stage businesses to establish/grow emerging enterprises in Kansas City.

A few new wrinkles in the LaunchKC competition this year include:

  • Introduction of a $100,000 grand prize grant to be awarded on Sept. 15
  • LaunchKC judges will hear pitches from 20 competition finalists at Techweek KC on Friday morning, Sept. 15, and select 9 recipients of $50,000 grants who will be introduced that evening.
  • During the awards ceremony, one of the 9 recipients will be selected to have his/her grant doubled to $100,000!

In its first two years, LaunchKC has pumped $1 million into the Kansas City tech space through $50,000 grants awarded t0 a total of 20 entrepreneurs from 6 states and 3 nations!

LaunchKC grant recipients not only will earn cash grants, but also one year of free working space in Downtown Kansas City; industry-specific mentor teams; and opportunities to meet and learn from industry and entrepreneurial leaders from KC.

So, who will compete at Techweek Kansas City in September? Who will win the grants in 2017?

You can’t win at LaunchKC if you don’t apply. And, LaunchKC has 50,000 (or more) reasons why you should go for it … within the next 50 days.

 

 

 

 

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