SparkHaus, a new hub for the Northern Kentucky startup community, received $750,000 in funding from the Carol Ann & Ralph V. Haile Jr. Foundation and Drees Homes Foundation.
Specifically, the Haile Foundation is pledging $500,000, while the Drees Homes Foundation is pledging $250,000.
SparkHaus aims to create a centralized office hub for Northern Kentucky-based startups, investment firms, and entrepreneurial support organizations.
SparkHaus will be located in the former Sims Furniture building at 727 Madison Ave. in Covington’s Central Business District. Its amenities will include meeting spaces, classrooms and presentation rooms. The building is 47,000 square feet, 39,000 of which can accommodate rent-paying office space. The Northern Kentucky Port Authority owns the property.
“SparkHaus fills a gap in our gameplan to diversify our economy with new, innovative
businesses,” Kenton County Judge/Executive Kris Knochelmann said in a press release. “Whether it’s our partners in the General Assembly or local business leaders, we’re grateful they share our vision for what this space can be and recognize the power of putting together all the pieces of the puzzle to give our entrepreneurs the greatest chance of success.”
These funds follow the $6 million committed to the project by the Kentucky General Assembly in its most recent budget and the $3 million the Port Authority deployed from Kenton County’s state-backed site development fund in 2023.
Other key sources of funding for SparkHaus are $2.04 million from the Kentucky Heritage Council in Kentucky Historic Rehabilitation Tax Credits and $2.5 million from the Catalytic Fund toward the project’s construction.
In total, SparkHaus is anticipated to cost $16.4 million, according to a press release from Kenton County.