Pitch locally or look to outsiders? How founder bias toward funding at all costs could leave your distracted startup without a why

Kansas City’s funding gaps often feel deeper for women entrepreneurs, two top founders said Tuesday, describing a startup ecosystem that pits emerging entrepreneurs against each other — but perhaps more critically, against time — in a highly competitive fight for a limited amount of local capital.

Conner Hazelrigg, Hilltop Technologies, right, speaks alongside Shervonne Cherry, Spark Coworking, during the “Inspiring Women Live!” fireside chat at Spark Coworking Kansas City; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News

“Kansas City is very startup friendly — at least for zero-to-phase one businesses, but there’s not a lot of support after that,” said Jannae Gammage, co-founder of Cyphr, a Kansas City-based fintech company that uses AI to open access to capital deployment.

“Local funders who support that next level of growth are so few and far between that you have to look for investors or funders from outside the area,” added Conner Hazelrigg, co-founder of the cybersecurity startup Hilltop Technologies. “The whole reason [Cyphr] exists is because investment banks and others are not giving out money to people like us. So there’s a gap.”

“We’re just missing a whole section of support in terms of being able to grow entrepreneurs in the way that you want to see in a flourishing ecosystem,” Hazelrigg told a crowd gathered during an “Inspiring Women Live!” fireside chat Tuesday at Spark Coworking in downtown Kansas City.

The event featured LaunchKC alumni like Gammage and Hazelrigg, focusing on highlighting challenges — and strategies for navigating through them — faced by women entrepreneurs in Kansas City’s innovation ecosystem.

“We wanted to have a candid conversation,” said Shervonne Cherry, national director for Spark Coworking and moderator for the event. “So for KC: the good, bad, ugly, and everything in between.”

Shervonne Cherry, Spark Coworking, left, moderates the “Inspiring Women Live!” fireside chat featuring Conner Hazelrigg, Hilltop Technologies, and Jannae Gammage, Cyphr; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Too often, building the business falls secondary to amassing the capital needed to keep the doors open, Gammage lamented.

“Sometimes you lose sight of why you’re doing it; because you’re just so focused on ‘How do I fund this?'” Gammage said.

Accelerators, incubators and other programs tailored to early-stage startups — while critical when timed right — only go so far, she noted.

“I applaud the effort; there are a lot of people trying to help in the ecosystem, but there’s something missing,” Gammage said, acknowledging a lack of collaboration often leads to inefficient deployment of resources and redundant efforts.

Jannae Gammage, Cyphr, right, speaks alongside Shervonne Cherry, Spark Coworking, and Conner Hazelrigg, Hilltop Technologies, at the “Inspiring Women Live!” fireside chat at Spark Coworking Kansas City, an event in partnership with LaunchKC; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“And then you’ve got a whole gap in talent,” added Hazelrigg, whose startups taps innovative students from its homebase at William Jewell College in Liberty, Missouri.

“We don’t have the tech talent here that we need,” she said of the Kansas City metro. “We were just talking 10 minutes ago about how we both wish we were coders — because it would solve so many problems in our businesses today.”

RELATED: Hilltop Technologies targets cybersecurity for Main Street (with help from next-gen talent)

A crowd listens during the “Inspiring Women Live!” fireside chat at Spark Coworking Kansas City, an event in partnership with LaunchKC; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Entrepreneurship and tech in Kansas City also specifically need more women, Hazelrigg said.

“How as a community and an ecosystem do we change that? How do we find more ways to motivate women into these spaces?” she asked.

Shifting away from a founder-versus-founder mentality could help, Hazelrigg suggested, indicating the real battle is more internal. 

“I’m never upset if we lose a pitch competition; I’m a firm believer that your opportunities won’t pass you by,” she said. “If one passes you by, it wasn’t yours; there’s no reason to get upset about it.”

“Your mindset has to be about ‘How do we position our companies to continue to thrive?’ It’s a daily grind of looking at what opportunities you can bring in,” Hazelrigg continued. “It’s a constant game of chess to figure out ‘How are we going to get from July to August?’ and then ‘How are we going to get ourselves from August to November?'”

Tuesday’s “Inspiring Women Live!” is part of an event series curated by Spark Coworking across its locations that brings together women executives to engage in conversation on a range of topics from culture to leadership to mentorship, and how they inspire themselves during and beyond the 9-to-5.

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