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Missouri Governor Kicks Off Techweek Conference With Grants For Kansas City Startups

Elle Moxley
/
KCUR

Gov. Jay Nixon announced more than $1 million in Missouri Technology Corporation grants for three metro-area businesses Thursday at Kansas City’s first Techweek conference.

“We’re glad that Techweek’s here. It’s just blown the doors off,” Nixon said. “About twice as many as they thought came into town.”

The national technology conference will stop in Kansas City for the next five years, drawn here in part because of Google Fiber and the Cisco Smart City initiative.

“This is the kind of thing to help brand the Kansas City region as a tech startup hub,” Nixon said.

The Missouri Technology Corporation is a public-private partnership to invest in promising tech companies. The grants Nixon announced Thursday went to LaunchKC, Digital Sandbox and the Independence Economic Development Council.

More than $24 million has been awarded to date.

Elle Moxley covered education for KCUR.
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