University of Missouri - Kansas City

The University of Missouri-Kansas City Innovation Center (UMKCIC), with its strong suite of programs and collaboration with other university and community organizations, plays a leading role in the Kansas City region’s initiative to “Make Kansas City America’s most entrepreneurial city”. This public/private partnership supports regional commercialization by leading efforts to fill defined gaps in the Kansas City entrepreneurial ecosystem that hinder the region’s economic growth and global competitiveness. For the past five years, UMKCIC’s University Center Program (UCP) has used university assets to support young firms that create jobs by improving access to capital for early-stage entrepreneurs, resulting in a 290% increase in available capital. The next five years will focus on building regional collaborations with university, government, community and business leaders to create an infrastructure for engagement between entrepreneurial businesses and mid- to large-sized corporations and creating economic wealth in distressed urban core neighborhoods. The goal is to strengthen the fundamental building blocks of a prosperous and innovation-centric economy.