Startup America

The Obama Administration launched Startup America, a “national campaign to help ‘win the future’ by knocking down barriers in the path of men and women in every corner of this country hoping to take a chance, follow a dream, and start a business.”

The White House is focused on entrepreneurship as a core element of the President’s innovation strategy because of the critical role that startups play in job creation in the United States. Startups are also responsible for developing many of the breakthrough products and services that will allow the United States to compete and win in the global economy – such as low-cost solar cells, new life-saving treatments for diseases, or the next breakthrough in wireless technology. Answering the President’s call to action to invest in job-creating startups, leaders in the private sector launched the Startup America Partnership, an independent alliance to mobilize additional private sector commitments. Steve Case, co-founder of AOL and Chairman of the Case Foundation, will chair the Partnership, and Carl Schramm, President and CEO of the Kauffman Foundation will be a founding board member.

Startup America will:

• Expand access to capital for high-growth startups throughout the country;
• Expand entrepreneurship education and mentorship programs that empower more Americans not just to get a job, but to create jobs;
• Strengthen commercialization of the about $148 billion in annual federally-funded research and development, which can generate innovative startups and entirely new industries;
• Identify and remove unnecessary barriers to high-growth startups; and
• Expand collaborations between large companies and startups.