Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs — like Liza and Brian Thomas whose campaign supports funding the digital publication Coruzant Technologies — to share their crowdfunding stories in a simple Q&A format to gain exposure with potential supporters.
Who are you?
Coruzant Technologies is a digital publication that brings news and content around new and emerging technologies. The Coruzant platform features top technologists and executives from around the world in the form of podcasts, videos, live webinars, and technology articles. More importantly, Coruzant is focused on bringing more diversity to the tech and STEM fields, particularly for women. The company is a woman-owned, veteran-owned business. Co-founders Liza Thomas and Brian Thomas of Overland Park both have deep experience in entrepreneurship and technology.
What does your campaign hope to accomplish?
With Coruzant’s recent growth and success over the past few months, we hope to raise enough funds to manage expenses and continue the growth for the next several months.
What’s your ‘why’?
Liza has been a serial entrepreneur, having successfully launched, sold, and exited two successful ventures; one a healthy food supplement product, and the other a CBD store. Her passion is to see growth of her creation from idea and inception to successful operation of the business. Additionally, having an opportunity to give back in the form of education and mentorship for other women to find their interests and/or careers in the tech and STEM fields; especially because she has two daughters who work in STEM.
How much do you hope to raise with the crowdfunding campaign?
Coruzant needs to focus on expenses for the next six months, which is expected to be about $15,000. The founders have already invested over $13,000 in the past 12 months.
How do you plan to use the funds?
Most of the expenses are in the form of monthly recurring fees for SaaS applications, software subscriptions, Office 365, web hosting, SEO, etc. With this funding, we will be able to focus on growing the platform successfully and obtaining corporate sponsors to fund the platform sustainably.
Anything else our readers should know about Coruzant or this effort?
Coruzant is focused on bringing high-quality curated content around emerging technology and trends. We have interviewed hundreds of technology executives and professionals, from an African American woman NASA scientist to woman-led Silicon Valley startups, to billionaire tech CEOs from across the globe. We are likened to such platforms as TechCrunch and TheInformation.
This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
