Local entrepreneur Chris Motley said he got the best birthday present ever when he turned 34 on April 28.
That day, his start-up company Better Weekdays received $175,000 from the Missouri Technology Corporation (MTC), a public-private partnership created by the Missouri General Assembly that provides early-stage capital to entrepreneurs and startups.
On May 20, Motley listened while Gov. Jay Nixon told a room full of entrepreneurs at the T-REX technology incubator in downtown St. Louis that MTC has $15.86 million in funding for science and technology programs, like Motley’s, in fiscal year 2016.
St. Louis’ push to become recognized as a top emerging start-up city means a lot when local entrepreneurs talk with investors and customers, Motley said.
“It’s huge because if you approach a customer and you tell them that you are an emerging start-up from St. Louis, it makes people pay attention,” said Motley, co-founder and CEO of Better Weekdays, a job-matching web platform.
“That support mitigates the risks of the customer working with you.”
Recently, Nixon also announced that $1 million was being made available for science and technology programs at MTC in the current fiscal year. He said the economy getting better is the reason why the additional million dollars are now available.
State Budget Director Linda Luebbering announced earlier this month that 2015 fiscal year-to-date net general revenue collections increased 7.7 percent compared to 2014, from $6.70 billion last year to $7.22 billion this year.
“Folks are getting back to work,” Nixon said, “and we think investing in these types of start-ups that got good ideas and good strong workforce right here downtown St. Louis is an excellent way to accelerate the recovery.”
To date, MTC has deployed $21 million in funding to 65 companies, including T-REX, which helped start-ups raise more than $180 million in additional private capital.
Nixon gave a nod to Better Weekdays when he spoke of business owners who have attracted private investments. Motley and his company co-founder and vice president of operations Kunal Parbadia moved to St. Louis from Chicago during the “polar vortex” 15 months ago, he said. They had received a Capital Innovations grant of $50,000.
Since then, they’ve gone from being two people who hadn’t gotten paid in three years to now being a team of four who collect their paychecks.
Motley’s team has an office at T‐REX at 911 Washington Avenue, which provides entrepreneurs with low cost and flexible enterprise space and is home to more than 100 startups and community development organizations.
“Here at T-REX, we see every day how entrepreneurs contribute to the economic and cultural vitality of the St. Louis region,” said T-REX executive director, Patricia Hagen. “Funding through the Missouri Technology Corporation has been vital to the success of many of our emerging enterprises, and to T-REX itself.”
It was standing room only in the room filled with about 80 people, many who were part of the T-REX community. Motley said it’s important for the community to be aligned in order for start-ups to be successful.
“What it was like to be in the room today was the community was aligned,” he said. “You have the head of the state all the way down to the little entrepreneur who has his idea. And you know you have that support.”
Follow this reporter on Twitter at @rebeccarivas.
