Obama Launches Partnership To Help Startups

The White House announced the Startup American Partnership (SAP) on January 31 which promotes entrepreneurship as part of President Obama’s National Innovation Strategy by investing in startup entrepreneurs. Facebook, Intel, and TECHStars are among the over a dozen companies and organizations that joined SAP. AOL co-founder Steve Case leads SAP, and Carl Schramm, president and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation, is on the board.

SAP is co-funded by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and the Case Foundation. IBM announced on January 31 that it will invest $150 million. IBM already has its Global Entrepreneur initiative.

"The investment will help us greatly expand the work we're doing to build business skills and provide market opportunities for the most innovative new companies in the country," said James Corgel, General Manager, IBM Developer and Academic Relations. "These start-ups are tackling some of the country's most pressing challenges and opportunities."

Intel Capital will commit $200 million, HP $4 million, and The Blackstone Charitable Foundation announced a $5 million expansion of the Blackstone LaunchPad program piloted at two Detroit colleges. Facebook will launch Startup Days, 12 to 15 events across the U.S. to give entrepreneurs access to expertise, resources and engineers.

SAP will focus on acceleration and scale, education, and commercialization. The core goals of SAP, according to its website, are:

• Increasing the number of new, high-growth firms that are creating economic growth, innovation, and quality jobs


• Celebrating and honoring entrepreneurship as a core American value and source of competitive advantage


• Inspiring and empowering an ever-greater diversity of communities and individuals to build great American companies

“We are pleased to help lead this partnership,” said Carl Schramm. “At Kauffman, it is our mission to develop and fund programs to support entrepreneurs, and to help educate policymakers about the role entrepreneurship and innovation play in our society. This partnership will bring together partners from across the private, public and non-profit sectors, working together toward a common goal: supporting the entrepreneurs who are the lifeblood of our economy.”

“We are pleased to help lead this partnership,” said Carl Schramm. “At Kauffman, it is our mission to develop and fund programs to support entrepreneurs, and to help educate policymakers about the role entrepreneurship and innovation play in our society. This partnership will bring together partners from across the private, public and non-profit sectors, working together toward a common goal: supporting the entrepreneurs who are the lifeblood of our economy.”