NXTUS Capital Programs Help Grow Companies of Significance

Angel Investor Group Mobilizes Nearly $1.5 Million in Nine Months, Reaches $4.5 Million Total for Region’s Entrepreneurs

In a record-paced nine months since receiving a grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration, NXTUS, Inc. has helped mobilize nearly $1.5 million in growth capital for nine regional startups, bringing the group’s total to $4.5 million since late 2018.

Powered by a Build to Scale Capital Challenge grant – a first-in-Kansas award for NXTUS last fall – the organization has rapidly grown its impact, outpacing similar entities elsewhere and creating strong momentum for the startup community here.

“Overall, NXTUS exists to help entrepreneurs build companies of significance by connecting them to capital, customers, and community,” said Quinn Robertson, who runs the Accelerate Venture Partners angel investment group and other NXTUS capital programs. “On the capital front, we are keenly focused on expanding awareness and increasing the supply of risk capital in Kansas. Growing this ‘pie’ helps all entrepreneurs, but it particularly enables currently underrepresented populations to both build companies and access new forms of equity ownership.”

“We work to find and educate startup founders about the kinds of capital best suited for their growing businesses. We recruit more early-stage investors. And then we bring them together. Between our education programs and the direct investments made by the members of Accelerate Venture Partners, we are helping more, and more diverse, people change their lives and build wealth for their families through ownership,” said Robertson.

Before applying for the grant, NXTUS engaged with more than 1,000 startups and hundreds of active or potential early-stage investors. This research showed the region needed more recruitment efforts to increase the number and diversity of founders and active funders, as well as better capital education for investors and entrepreneurs. For example, early-stage companies here need more exposure to capital options beyond standard loans or traditional venture-capital investments.

AVP has already begun to see significant growth within their portfolio companies. The 14 companies that the angel group has invested in – which are based in KS, OK, and MO and include biotechnology, software, and even crypto companies – have grown to employ more than 250, which is up more than 100 since AVP’s original investments. They also brought in nearly $15 million in 2021 revenue and raised more than $150 million in total funding.

“We measure success by the number and diversity of scalable startups we’re serving, the breadth of people actively participating in mobilizing capital, how well we have educated founders and investors, and if we are effectively filling financing gaps with the right type of capital,” Robertson said.

The EDA’s investment in the organization, a three-year $350,000 grant matched 1:1 with local funds, has already started to pay dividends:

• The angel investor group has grown nearly 50 percent in the last nine months. It has pumped over $1.5 million of capital into nine regional startups, including $280,000 total into three Wichita-based companies, bringing the total invested into 4 Wichita companies to over $750K since 2018.

• NXTUS has created and completed multiple funding-focused bootcamps for founders and potential angel investors, with over 75 participants and strong positive feedback from attendees

• The angel investor group has already completed a new type of investment in a short-term working capital loan, and will continue to evaluate a broader array of capital types that benefit a larger group of founders.

Since the EDA’s investment in NXTUS, local startups such as crypto-focused Voltage, hiring and career platform QuickHire, and autonomous-farming-robot company Greenfield Robotics have been beneficiaries of the uptick in investment from the angel group. “NXTUS helped us grow from an idea to a business. They provided critical support including mentoring, capital and new clients,” said Deborah Gladney, co-founder and CEO of QuickHire.

Though on track to exceed the goals it identified with the grant funding, NXTUS can still do more.

“We’ve already increased the number of angel investors participating in early-stage investing through our angel investor group by 50 percent since receiving the EDA grant, but we always want more,” said NXTUS team member Ian Worrell.  “If we could get 60, 75, 100 angel investors actively participating in funding early-stage entrepreneurs, the impact to the local and regional community and startup ecosystem would be enormous.” 

NXTUS is also focusing on increasing the diversity of investors, founders, and capital options they can support.  This includes a strong effort on finding ways to engage underrepresented entrepreneurs and investors, along with adding to the types of capital AVP can help mobilize.  Diverse investor representation, combined with a broader collection of startups, armed with the tools to help educate on and utilize the right type of capital to fund their business, will help drive a healthy and collaborative funding community.

“It’s a cycle of growth that needs to get restarted,” said Robertson.  “More knowledgeable capital providers and founders build a foundation for better participation. More participation leads to more risk capital getting mobilized. More founders and potential funders notice and want to learn, and the growth builds upon itself.”

Entrepreneurs looking to scale their companies, individuals looking to learn more about or participate in angel investing, or local service providers wishing to support AVP should reach out to quinn@nxtus.io