\t\t\t\t\t\t\tThe McKinney Economic Development Corp. is launching a new innovation initiative aimed at further supporting startup companies in McKinney, according to a February news release.<\/p>\n
In a nutshell<\/p>\n
Officials are launching the McKinney Innovation Exchange<\/a> as the \u201cnext evolution\u201d of MEDC\u2019s Innovation Fund, the news release states. The Innovation Fund, created in 2020<\/a>, offers grants to startup companies in McKinney. To date, the fund has awarded funding to more than 50 startups, according to MEDC\u2019s website.<\/p>\n The Innovation Exchange will act as a hub designed to accelerate startup growth, attract capital and \u201cdeepen McKinney\u2019s position as a leading innovation city in North Texas and beyond,\u201d according to the news release.<\/p>\n MEDC President and CEO Michael Kowski<\/a> announced the Innovation Exchange\u2019s launch during a Jan. 27 joint meeting<\/a> with McKinney City Council.<\/p>\n \u201cThe McKinney Innovation Exchange is what we\u2019re calling our entire ecosystem for inspiring startups and small businesses to grow here in McKinney,\u201d Kowski said.<\/p>\n Looking ahead<\/p>\n Officials are opening a physical space for the exchange at a 6,000-square-foot space adjacent to the MEDC\u2019s offices at District 121. The space is expected to open later this year and serve as a collaborative space for founders, investors, corporate partners and ecosystem organizations, according to the news release.<\/p>\n “><\/p>\n \u201cThe Innovation Fund proved that McKinney could attract strong founders and deliver real economic impact,\u201d Innovation Project Manager Troy Billett<\/a> said in a statement. \u201cThe Innovation Exchange is about what comes next. It gives founders a place to build, connect, and grow while creating stronger pathways to capital, talent, and customers. This is a major step forward in the maturity of the program.\u201d<\/p>\n MEDC will continue offering grant awards to startup companies through its Innovation Fund. Grant types offered by the Innovation Fund include:<\/p>\n Growth: a grant of up to $200,000 to support early-stage technology startupsExpansion: a grant of up to $500,000 for startups in McKinney seeing rapid growthRelocation: a grant of up to $500,000 for startups that relocate their primary headquarters facilities to McKinneyTo learn more, visit https:\/\/uniquemckinney.com\/ix<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The McKinney Economic Development Corp. is launching a new innovation initiative aimed at further supporting startup companies in…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":165802,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[67424,67428,67421,67425,67422,67426,160,162,161,67427,67423],"class_list":["post-165801","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-plano","tag-business-news-in-mckinney","tag-grants-awarded-by-mckinney","tag-mckinney-economic-development-corp","tag-mckinney-innovation-exchange","tag-medc-innovation-fund","tag-medc-news-in-mckinney","tag-plano","tag-plano-headlines","tag-plano-news","tag-startup-news-in-mckinney","tag-startups-in-mckinney"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165801","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=165801"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/165801\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/165802"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=165801"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=165801"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=165801"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}