CONTACT: Melissa Beltrame, Lead Bank Marketing Director | mbeltrame@leadbankonline.com
Jenny Kincaid, Socialworx PR | (816) 550.4382 | jenny@socialwrx.com
KANSAS CITY, MO (September 2015) Lead Bank, an 86 year-old locally owned financial institution, is pleased to be a platinum sponsor of TechWeek Kansas City’s inaugural conference. Techweek is the nation’s leading technology conference and festival, gathering local and national industry influencers and emerging tech voices to showcase local innovation. In conjunction with Techweek KC, Lead Bank commissioned CB Insights, one of the top data science companies, to conduct an independent data-driven analysis of financing to reveal the state of venture capital in the Midwest. As a thought leader in the banking industry and as a supporter of small businesses and entrepreneurship, Lead Bank fashioned this report to show their commitment to being a part of Kansas City’s economic and community dialogue.
The Lead Bank - CB Insights inaugural research, “Midwest Tech Report” is the first of an ongoing series of studies. The data and analysis in these reports inform investors, business owners and policy makers so that they are able to make better informed business decisions. Lead Bank believes in doing business better, and the facts reported in these reports allow the Kansas City community to make better business decisions. The “Midwest Tech Report” reveals several key findings, which prove to be a great resource for Kansas City entrepreneurs and start-ups alike.
One of the most notable findings, is that funding to the Midwest tech ecosystem has reached $4.4B in 2014. Annual funding rose steadily from 2010 through the first half of 2015. Funding increased 67% in 2014 compared to 2010 figures and 27% over 2014. 2015 is showing no signs of a slowdown, dollars invested are projected to reach almost $5.3B by year-end at the current run rate. The last 5 quarters saw more than $1B deployed to Midwest tech companies. Deals and dollars invested in the Midwest are trending upwards since Q1’ 10. Over the last 5 quarters, Midwest tech companies have seen over 200 deals per quarter, whereas compared to 2010, they saw an average of 94 deals per quarter. Josh Rowland, Vice Chairman of Lead Bank, concluded, “The timing is perfect to introduce this research during TechWeek when people are interested in learning more about how Kansas City can become a sustainable startup community and support entrepreneurs.” Josh Rowland will introduce Anand Sanwal with CB Insights, who will be presenting the full findings of the report on the afternoon of Thursday, September 17th during Techweek KC.
For more than 85 years, Lead Bank has remained a strong independent commercial bank dedicated to delivering smart financial solutions for business owners, managers and their families and communities. With locations in Garden City, Lee’s Summit and the Kansas City Crossroads (October 2015), Lead Bank continues to provide treasury management, lending services, and personal client products. Lead Bank also offers advisory services to companies from bookkeeping to business brokerage services through its division, Lead Business Advisors. The new flagship location in Kansas City’s dynamic KC Crossroads District will introduce clients to a new “era of banking”. For additional information, call (816) 220.8600 or visit www.leadbankonline.com
About CB Insights
CB Insights is a National Science Foundation-backed software company that uses data science and machine learning to help their customers predict what’s next – their next customer, their next investment, and the next market they should attack. CB Insights has been featured in the NY Times, Wall Street Journal, TechCrunch, Bloomberg, and was named one of New York’s top emerging enterprise companies. For additional information, visit www.cbinsights.com