2023 Innovation Awards honorees - NXTUS
In 2022, NXTUS launched two new entrepreneurial support programs designed for growth-minded Kansas entrepreneurs with product in market, who are looking to scale and grow. These two programs, made possible by funding from a “Build to Scale” grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, were created to fill a key need in our regional startup ecosystem: too many early-stage businesses bogged down while tackling the vital steps of assessing ideal target buyers for their products and services, devising their pricing strategies, and growing their initial customer base.
The first of the two programs, the NXTSTAGE Customer Traction Cohort, is a customized accelerator tailored for growth-minded Kansas startups who are in the thick of their product-market fit and customer-acquisition journeys. The program aims to help early-stage companies break through barriers to generate revenue and identify scalable offerings and includes both in-person workshops and intensive 1:1 coaching in partnership with Fluent's national Flex Accelerator program. The 2022 Cohort included 10 Kansas companies. In 2023, thanks to support from NetWork Kansas, the program reached deeper into rural Kansas and included 21 startups.
In the fall of 2022, NXTUS launched the NXTSTAGE Enterprise Engagement Series to bridge the knowledge and access gaps between early-stage companies and established enterprises. The program aimed to drive innovation, accelerate startup growth, and promote supplier diversity in the region through partnering with 11 Enterprise Partners: Cargill, Evergy, Cox Business, Professional Engineering Consultants, Keycentrix, LANGE Companies, Sedgwick County, USD 259 and the city of Wichita. NXTUS held a culminating event for this inaugural series at the Cargill Protein Headquarters during Wichita Startup Week in October, with 150-plus attendees celebrating the program’s 20 graduating startups.
At NXTUS, we are committed to serving everyonewith the courage to start and grow a business. Of the startups graduating from these two programs to date, 40 have been led by traditionally underserved entrepreneurs, including ethnic minorities, females, veterans and others. We are grateful to be named an honoree for the 2023 Innovation Awards, and are excited to keep innovating, keep being a "startup for startup," and continue the vital work of helping grow tomorrow’s great companies right here in Kansas.