(Jackson, Miss) – Innovate Mississippi announced today that Flowood-based technology startup Kopis Mobile is yet another “Mississippi Startup Success Story” aided by an investment from the Mississippi Seed Fund.
The Mississippi Seed Fund, which is managed by Innovate Mississippi, was established by the State Legislature in 2007 to support the growth of high-tech startup companies – such as Kopis Mobile – and ultimately accelerate the state’s economy and workforce.
Kopis Mobile launched in 2013 as a high-tech developer of innovative software and app-enabled equipment designed to increase the safety and efficiency of United States military, law enforcement and the private security sector.
From inception, Kopis Mobile leadership engaged and worked with Innovate Mississippi’s entrepreneurial development team. In 2014, the tech startup applied for and received a $100,000 Mississippi Seed Fund investment, which served as working capital for product development and marketing. Kopis Mobile successfully matched the investment with funds from accredited investors, which led to a strong, upward growth cycle.
“At the time of the Mississippi Seed Fund investment, it paid for three months of expenses,” explained Henry Jones, Ph.D., co-founder and managing member of Kopis Mobile. “Now it wouldn’t cover a month. We have grown substantially, and the Seed Fund money came at a critical time for us when we needed it to create inventory to use for sales and marketing.”
“Raising investor money is difficult – even for the best companies with the best products and management,” said Tony Jeff, president and CEO of Innovate Mississippi. “Startups often find that the Mississippi Seed Fund investment can lend immediate credibility to their efforts and serve as a catalyst to raise more investment – just as it has for Kopis Mobile.”
The investment from the Mississippi Seed Fund provided Kopis Mobile with the means to succeed, allowing it to build a robust customer base and product development partnerships that includes the United States Army, Air Force, Marine Corps, Navy and National Guard as well as offices in counter-terrorism, national defense and elite special operations units. This success also translated into substantial increases in production and staff, the opening of a second office in Virginia Beach, VA, and a projected revenue of more than $3 million for 2017. And because of Kopis Mobile’s success, it has paid off the Seed Fund loan early.
The biggest challenge now for Kopis Mobile is recruiting marketing experts with military experience and exceptional software developers who can keep up with the fast pace of product development.
“Mississippi is a good place to grow an innovative company because no one takes our problems and successes for granted,” added Jones. “I think we get much more support than a company of our size would get in most other places in the country, and that adds up. For example, we collaborate with military and first responders in Mississippi as R&D partners, and we are continuously interested in finding more local units, agencies and departments to test existing products and identify new needs.”
The Mississippi Seed Fund is in place to provide startup ventures access to pre-seed financing, early-stage risk capital and product development capital. As the end game is to develop high-performance, technology-based businesses, Mississippi can certainly benefit, long-term, from this form of organic job growth.
Since its beginning, 31 Mississippi Seed Fund awards have been given to 25 startup companies, totaling a $2.1 million investment within the state.
“Innovate Mississippi was critical for us to get off the ground,” added Jones, who is a Mississippi native and alum of The University of Mississippi and Stanford University. “It’s hard to be a small tech company in Mississippi and not be in touch with Innovate Mississippi – they are a great, knowledgeable resource for companies like ours.”
For more information on the Mississippi Seed Fund and how to apply, please contact Clay Lewis, Innovate Mississippi’s investment manager, at clewis@innovate.ms or
601-960-3610.
For more information on Kopis Mobile and how to partner, utilize or learn more about
their work for military units and law enforcement agencies, please visit www.kopismobile.com or contact their sales (sales@kopismobile.com), recruiting (recruit@kopismobile.com) and partnership (partner@kopismobile.com) teams.
Innovate Mississippi is a nonprofit organization with the mission to drive innovation and technology-based economic development for the State of Mississippi. Visit www.innovate.ms to learn more.