KCRise Fund

We look to co-invest with other institutional investors, including venture capital firms and corporate investors, in pre-seed, Seed, and Series A rounds of at least $1 million for early-stage technology companies with a strategic connection to the western half of Missouri or the entire state of Kansas, with a primary focus on business-to-business (B2B) companies.

Darcy Howe founded KCRise Fund in 2016 to fill a gap in strategic capital for local startups. KCRise Fund fits within a broader long-term vision for the greater Kansas City region, which seeks to foster entrepreneurship, bring existing businesses to scale, and fully realize the Kansas City region’s potential.

Today, KCRise Fund remains the only venture capital firm focused on the Kansas City region.

Decidedly for-profit, KCRise Fund is a traditional venture capital fund that invests side-by-side with other institutional investors in early-stage companies based in Kansas and the western half of Missouri.

Investors in KCRise Fund include corporations, university endowments, family offices, and prominent business leaders in the region. In 2023, KCRise Fund closed KCRise Fund III and the firm currently has over $90 million in assets under management.