Two Missouri cities named fastest-growing tech startup scenes in the U.S.
- January 26, 2016
St. Louis and Kansas City were recently named the number 1 and number 10 cities, respectively, in the U.S. for fastest-growing startup scenes in the tech sector.
The accolade came from an article on Business Insider’s website listing the top ten cities in the U.S. for startup growth in 2016.
St. Louis showed a deal growth of 342.70% in 2015, and a growth of 33.02% since 2012, and Kansas City, which was previously chosen as the first location in the U.S. to launch Google Fiber, showed a deal growth of 31.56% in 2015, and a growth of 9.61% since 2012.
The news of this growth comes soon after the release of Missouri Governor Jay Nixon’s budget that increases funding of The Missouri Technology Corp. by $10 million in 2016. This increased funding will “help more entrepreneurs innovate and grow right here in the Show-Me State,” said Missouri Governor Jay Nixon during his State of the State speech on January 20. “MTC has already helped startups across the state leverage more than $200 million in private investment.”
The Missouri Technology Corp. is part of the state’s Department of Economic Development, and since it’s founding in 1994 it has invested directly in about 70 companies including successful startups, such as LockerDome and Newsy.
The capital received by Missouri Technology Corp. from the state played a significant role in placing both Kansas City and St. Louis in their positions on the list.
Missouri’s startups have been exploding in recent years, with economic development, business, civic, entrepreneurial, political, and venture capital leaders united behind ensuring growth statewide. The entire tech sector benefits from low operating costs, data center incentives, turnkey communications infrastructure, specialized talent and efficient access to global data markets.
These most recent accolades are but a few that have been given to Missouri cities in 2016. Others included Kansas City being named as the 2nd best city in the U.S. for job seekers in 2016.