Success Story: KCSourceLink: Helping Entrepreneurs Connect the Dots
Our University Centers are making a real difference in providing the support businesses and communities need for success. One example is the University of Missouri Kansas City’s KCSourceLink University Center program, which connects a network of over 240 entrepreneurs and small businesses in the 18-county Kansas City region to find the right business resources to start, scale or accelerate.
Recently, KCSourceLink issued its 4th Annual “We Create KC” report, which outlines the impact the program is having on making Kansas City “America’s Most Entrepreneurial City.”
Highlights from the report include:
- KCSourceLink made more than 92,000 connections via hotline, email and website last year to help entrepreneurs and small business;
- There has been a 290% increase in available capital for early-stage entrepreneurs, for a total of $792 million in capital available to early-stage entrepreneurs;
- The program is working to move innovations from universities and research labs into the marketplace through its Whiteboard2Boardroom program.
Media outlets have been a key player in helping KCSourceLink raise its visibility and rally people and organizations around a focused solution. Read what they are saying:
KCSourceLink: Support for entrepreneurs is growing, but still more work to do
Kansas City Business Journal (4/20/2016)
KC Entrepreneurship Progress Report: Are We There Yet?
Thinking Bigger Business Media (Vol. 24 Issue 10)
KCSourceLink: Improving startups’ access to capital ‘a marathon, not a sprint’
Startland (7/1/2016)
Congratulations to the University of Missouri-Kansas City and the KCSourceLink for the terrific impact they are having!