Luke Kriger approached the Duquesne University Small Business Development Center in early 2022 to seek assistance with locating potential funders for his business. The client started his app software development business in April 2021 for financial institutions, healthcare institutions, and government services. Since the start of his business, the client had grown to nine full-time employees, investing over $250K of his funds but due to the pandemic, he had to lay off employees. The client has started to see an increase in his business and was looking at seeking a loan for $500K to hire more software developers and expand his app business. He contacted several CDFIs, the URA, and several banks for funding as well as crowdfunding sources and was approved for a $500K loan to restart his business which allowed him to hire seven software developers. LKICORP is also raising $460K through crowdfunding and has applied for a $20 million government grant to hire more software engineers to complete the specialized banking app and bring the employees from working virtually to a central office location by mid-2023. For this app software development business, the client has also had sponsorships, and the company that sponsors the famous Tony Hawk Pro Skater video game was asked to be on a radio talk show.
The SBDC support provided to LKICORP included perfecting his business plan and finding the best possible financing options for his business such as the URA, the local CDFIs, and several crowdfunding platforms such as Kickstarter, GoFundMe, HoneyComb, and Crowdfunder. The client is very appreciative of the support given by the SBDC, stating “I’m honored to achieve the impossible, with respect, I thank Duquesne University for the support, dedication, motivation, determination, resilience, and honesty” for the turn of events in his favor.