An effort to put renewed energy and support behind entrepreneurship in Wichita launched five years ago as the e2e Accelerator.
Since then, the organization has rebranded to NXTUS, hired on big-name leaders and launched several now-recognizable programs. Mary Beth Jarvis, executive director of NXTUS, outlined the organization's past, present and future during the Wichita Business Journal's ICT Summit on Tuesday.
At its core, Jarvis said NXTUS provides support in three areas: capital, connections and customers.
She described it as "this environment where would-be, or in-the-moment entrepreneurs feel supported and have pathways to resources, their dumb questions can get answered, their smart questions can get in-depth help," she said.
One of the next big focuses for the organization is venture capital, which Jarvis says Wichita has lacked.
"This region has lots of resources, including monetary resources, but very few of them — and in a very narrow way — have unleashed the power of those resources to be investors and backers of early-stage ventures," she said.
For those who wouldn't consider themselves entrepreneurs, Jarvis said NXTUS plans to capture the "forward-thinking business leaders" in Wichita who can still be part of fostering that entrepreneurial ecosystem, whether that's in advanced manufacturing or education, real estate or child care.
"Introduce that entrepreneur to someone who could be their next partner or customer," she said. "If you're a business leader, be an early customer, don't just buy that tech solution off the shelf, don't just go to that catering company you've always used, give young businesses a try, give early-stage businesses a try."
