Governor Kelly announced the first round of local businesses to receive funding from the GROWKS Loan and Equity programs.
The program aims to help small businesses, especially those in underserved areas, access capital in the early stages of growth. In the first round, four companies – three of which are woman-led – received a total of $850,000 in companion financing to bank loans (also known as matching capital).
Earlier this year, Governor Kelly announced the creation of the Kansas Framework for Growth GROWKS Loan Fund and the GROWKS Equity Programs, run through the Kansas Department of Commerce, to distribute $69 million in funding awarded to Kansas through the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s State Small Business Credit Initiative (SSBCI).
The approved $850,000 has reportedly leveraged more than $4 million in private capital. Ultimately, more than $1 billion in funding will be invested by the private sector over the life of the programs, which can be used for common small business expenses such as inventory, equipment, supplies, and working capital.
The first round of GROWKS Loan and Equity programs recipients include:
- QuickHire, Inc., a Wichita-based technology platform that connects jobseekers with service-based work opportunities. The funding will be used to support marketing, market research, and commercialization.
- Celerity Enterprises, Inc., a Kansas City-based technology platform that focuses on settling special pricing agreements between suppliers and distributors. Funding will be used for hiring staff, sales development, and platform upgrades.
- ELIAS Animal Health, LLC, an Olathe-based medical biotechnology company advancing novel therapies for treating cancer in pets. Funding will be used to expand manufacturing capacity, sales and marketing, and customer service.
- SoHome Kids Foundation, a Neodesha-based startup company that aims to provide residential facilities to children ages 0-18 in the Kansas foster care system. Funding will be used to renovate a group home.
For more information about GROWKS, visit www.growks.com.
