Start & Grow Your Business

In Kansas, we’ve got the resources to bring your entrepreneurial dreams to life. NetWork Kansas provides a central portal for entrepreneurs and small business owners to connect and access the right resources, from classes on Google Analytics to connections with like-minded entrepreneurs and capital loans. GROWKS is here to match you with the right funding from financial institutions or private investors through their loan and equity programs. K-State 105, Kansas State University’s initiative to engage communities throughout the state with its collective knowledge and solution-driven innovation, offers extensive insights to small businesses for their development and expansion. Additional statewide resources such as Kansas’ Small Business Development Center and Kansas Business One Stop will take you and your team from a plan to a profession to a promising future.

Between the state’s extensive research network and niche start-up accelerator programs, Kansans aren’t shy about business innovation and entrepreneurship. Our universities play a central role in developing critical research and fostering special public-private partnerships that entrepreneurs harness to drive change across their respective industries. The University of Kansas’ (KU) Institute for Information Sciences and Biopharmaceutical Innovation & Optimization Center are in the business of translating research into new communication systems and medical treatments, respectively. Kansas State University’s (K-State) Sunderland Foundation and Innovation Lab offers access to a state-of-the-art facility with the latest innovative technologies, like an artificial intelligence studio, and K-State Innovation Partners has invested in and helped launch 18 companies by granting them access to the university’s research, helping them find talent and collaborating to maximize their profit potential.

Industry-specific research networks include the National Institute for Materials Advancement, a Pittsburg, KS-based organization leading the way in developing and responsibly using polyurethanes, plastics, and other polymers. Kansas Manufacturing Solutions, a state manufacturing consultant, specializes in improving financial and operational performance. Plug and Play’s Ag Tech Startup Accelerator Program and Animal Health Innovation Campus, a Topeka-based animal health ecosystem, pairs Silicon Valley Technology with Kansas’ workforce, animal health companies and research and development to elevate the region’s status as the Animal Health Corridor.

Like all great relationships, we know that nothing worth doing ever gets done alone. So various statewide organizations offer funds, grants, and tax credits to qualifying entrepreneurs, helping them get their next big idea on its feet. The Kansas Department of Commerce’s (KDC) Kansas Innovation & Technology Enterprise (KITE) works with Kansan entrepreneurs and small business owners to raise funds and expand their ventures. The KITE Proof of Concept incentive, for example, comes to the rescue where typical funding mechanisms aren’t available by assisting the establishment of promising new technology within the state and the commercialization of inventions resulting from Kansas public universities’ research. The Kansas Angel Investor Tax Credit is another KDC program focused on connecting accredited angel investors with qualified Kansas companies looking for early-stage investment. And, the Small Business R&D Acceleration Grants pairs Kansas public higher education institutions with Kansas small businesses to advance their product or service to commercialization, modify it for a new market, or gain new customers by leveraging university resources.