WE CREATE
Making KC America's
Most Entrepreneurial City

We Create KC  and We Create Capital are projects of the KCSourceLink network


CAPITAL DASHBOARD

Welcome to the We Create Capital Dashboard!

KCSourceLink tracks the flow of equity capital and grants into Kansas City companies—because we know that startup and early-stage companies need capital to fuel growth.

Jump straight to the reports:

However, studies in 2012 suggest that Kansas City lacked that capital. Published in June 2015, We Create Capital 2015 provided a clearer picture of the funding landscape for emerging and growth businesses in the Kansas City region and an action plan to address the gaps.

Since then, individuals and organizations across the Kansas City region have rallied to improve access to capital for area entrepreneurs.

The data below demonstrates how capital is being deployed in the Kansas City metro area. This interactive dashboard shows investment by location, industry and size of investment. You can use the filters at the top—total dollars invested, number of businesses that received investment and number of investments—separately or in concert to gather deeper insights into Kansas City's capital landscape.

The history chart reflects the various numbers/amounts for the past five years.

As the instructions explain, you can select any data point on the dashboard to filter the rest of the reports. For example, clicking on the outline of the state of Kansas on the left will filter the Sector, Investment Size and History report to only include Kansas information. Additionally, you can select an Industry to see investments in that industry geographically or historically. Reports only reflect the last selection.

Data for these charts was pulled from various public sources and private databases, such as PitchBook, as well as local media outlets and entrepreneur-reported figures. Numbers reported here are based on all known data as of Dec. 31, 2021.

We invite you to play with the dashboard and, of course, let us know what you think.

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KC Investment Continuum

Early-stage grant programs and equity investments pressurize the pipeline for later investment. The community must support these early-stage funders in KC’s capital continuum if our companies are to survive the “valley of death” and achieve ultimate economic impact.

KCSourceLink and our network of 250+ service providers have worked to create a continuum of resources to support entrepreneurs, from early-stage through growth and expansion. 

The two charts below illustrate what the investment continuum looked like before 2013 and how it has grown today into an infrastructure that supports ideas, innovations and startups all along their paths.

Kansas City Investment Continuum before 2013 | KCSourceLink
We Create Capital Kansas City Investment Continuum: KCSourceLink

Value of Equity Investments Is on the Rise

2020 was an interesting year for investments. Targeted grant programs to assist small businesses affected by the pandemic drove an increase in both numbers and value in the investments <$100,000. Investments at the greater than $10 million were down significantly.  

Overall, investments in 2020 were lower than in 2019: $566 million raised in 2019 vs. $347 million raised in 2020 (not including IPOs). Including IPOs, the value of investments for 2020 was higher than for 2019 (roughly $1.2 billion in 2020 vs. $893 million in 2019.


KCSourceLink Capital Dashboard - Value of Investments in Startups

Resources Are Important to Companies Raising Capital


KCSourceLink connects entrepreneurs and small business owners to a network of 240+ resources. Having access to the expertise of those business-building resources matters, especially when seeking funding.

Overall, 78% of the companies who raised investment or won grants received assistance from local entrepreneurial support organizations. For companies that raised less than $100,000, the percentage that receive assistance from a Resource Partner in the KCSourceLink network was even higher: 83%. 

KCSourceLink Capital Dashboard - Number of Funded Companies that Received Assistance from the Entrepreneurship Ecosystem

KC Ranks near the Bottom for Capital Investments


Kansas City continues to rank low in comparison to capital raised by entrepreneurs in 14 peer cities. Kansas City had 68 deals compared to the peer city leader Denver with 422. In terms of value of deals, Denver again takes the top spot with Kansas City ranking 14th out of 15.

The ranking suggests Kansas City still has a long way to go to increase access to capital for early-stage companies. Many investments go unreported.

(Please note the data for the peer city comparison chart is taken solely from CB Insights so that accurate comparisons can be made. Thus the totals will not match the enhanced data presented in other charts.)

KCSourceLink Capital Dashboard - Peer Cities by Invested Dollars in Startups
KCSourceLink Capital Dashboard - Peer Cities by Number of Investment Deals

Local Investors Are Stepping Up

Overall, about 40% of investors in Kansas City companies are know to be locally-based. Just over 60% of investments of <$100,000 were made by local organizations (this includes local grant programs).


KCSourceLink Capital Dashboard - Startup Investors by Geography
Kansas City is rapidly becoming known nationally as a hot bed of entrepreneurial activity as risk takers are finding Kansas City a welcoming and supportive community. Kansas City is building America's strongest and most comprehensive entrepreneurial ecosystem.

—Peter J. Desilva, Former President And COO UMB Financial Corporation.