NXTUS

Accelerate Venture Partners (AVP) is a program of NXTUS, a Wichita-based 501(c)(3) entrepreneur support organization. Launched in November 2018, AVP exists to mobilize risk capital to fund early-stage companies in the region. AVP helps founders become excellent investment opportunities, improving access to and reducing friction in the fundraising process and educating founders and investors about this asset class.

AVP—the region’s angel investment syndicate—has generated promising early results. However, AVP’s first years have revealed challenges and playing-field inequities. This project aims to scale AVP and build it better via:

• strategic recruitment and education efforts to involve more (especially diverse) investors;
• implementing more scalable screening systems and technology platforms to efficiently handle more deals and deal types; and
• educating about risk capital and the breadth of entrepreneurs building high-potential businesses in the region.

To be a powerful engine of prosperity and opportunity for the region, AVP must grow its membership and engage with more entrepreneurs, some of which will need broader financing help than AVP currently offers. High-potential young companies that are not stereotypical tech startups, where most angel/venture capital is focused, are left to pursue friends and family capital, which is inequitably available. Through the Diversifying Kansas’ Risk Capital Ecosystem project, AVP will expand and diversify its base of angel investors and help grow more innovative young businesses as fuel for the regional economy.

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