In partnership with Kansas City-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Seattle-based Startup Weekend today launched the Startup Foundation, an initiative aimed at creating vibrant startup communities in cities throughout the world.
As we previously reported, Silicon Prairie News has been tapped to spearhead and receive funding for one of the non-profit Startup Foundation’s first eight cities: Boston, Des Moines, Detroit, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, New York City, Seattle, and Sao Paulo, Brazil. Geoff Wood, COO of Silicon Prairie News, is leading Des Moines as a foundation co-founder.
“We know from our experiences with local Startup Weekends that entrepreneurship is best supported at the grassroots level,” Startup Weekend CEO Marc Nager said in a release. “The Startup Foundation will ensure that community leaders across the country have a sustainable platform for which to effect real change within their local communities.”
The Startup Foundation already has hosted local startup summits in its eight pilot cities to bring leadership together to discuss visions for entrepreneurial ecosystems and to identify opportunities and obstacles. These summits have led to the launch of more than 40 new initiatives that directly address community needs.
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Over the next year, at least 10 additional cities are expected to join the Startup Foundation. To join the initiative, a city leader must apply and be accepted to the program. This leader will manage the Startup Foundation’s local activities and is required to raise $100,000 in capital dedicated completely to local operations and initiatives.
Also today, Startup Weekend named a board of directors that will oversee both Startup Weekend and Startup Foundation. The eight-person board consists of: Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation; Steve Blank, serial entrepreneur, author and entrepreneurship lecturer at the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University; Greg Gottesman, managing director at Madrona Venture Group; Brad Feld, co-founder of TechStars and managing director of the Foundry Group; Laura McKnight, president and CEO of the Greater Kansas City Community Foundation; and Nick Seguin, manager of entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation.
For more information about the Startup Foundation, to get involved or to contribute to ongoing initiatives, visit its website and watch the video below.
Disclosure: Silicon Prairie News is the Des Moines facilitator of Startup Foundation, a non-profit organization providing leadership and funding to create vibrant startup communities in cities across the globe.
