The University of Missouri-Kansas City has received a historic five-year, $12.97 million grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation to build upon its national leadership in entrepreneurship programming and impact in the Kansas City region.

The grant funding will support a variety of efforts, including new and existing programs across campus. UMKC and the Kauffman Foundation have a shared mission of supporting diverse communities, and the grant will help each continue to reach underserved groups that may not traditionally have access to entrepreneurial resources.

“UMKC has a number of programs designed to help reduce barriers to entrepreneurship,” said Philip Gaskin, vice president of entrepreneurship at the Kauffman Foundation. “We believe that expanding and aligning these programs will drive interest and success in entrepreneurship and result in a diverse pool of new businesses in the region.”

The grant is a result of a partnership among nationally recognized programs at UMKC: UMKC Innovation Center, the Henry W. Bloch School of Management Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation and the UMKC School of Law.

“This grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a clear endorsement of the work we’re doing across the university and in our surrounding communities to support entrepreneurship,” said UMKC Chancellor Mauli Agrawal.

The initiative will accomplish a variety of goals. It will build on and expand the university’s existing commitment to interdisciplinary collaborations, allowing increasing numbers of undergraduate and graduate students to explore entrepreneurship across campus.  Additionally, it will increase community connections, expand the availability of impactful educational resources for diverse entrepreneurs, implement a stronger technology commercialization system to move UMKC research innovations to market and provide more avenues for all areas of campus to participate in entrepreneurial activities.

“This grant allows UMKC to grow our programs and invest even more in both cross-campus and community entrepreneurial initiatives,” Agrawal said. “We are thrilled to work with the Kauffman Foundation and current and future partners to build upon our strong foundation and create more opportunities for the region’s innovators and entrepreneurs.”