KC picks who they think will win LaunchKC’s $50K grants
September 18, 2015 | Bobby Burch
Twenty startups are hoping to snag $50,000 during the LaunchKC grant competition.
Nearly 500 companies applied to be part of the contest, which will be announcing the winners at Techweek Kansas City at 3 p.m. Friday. Below are predictions from a few members of the tech, startup and entrepreneurship community meandering around Techweek on who they think will win the grants.
Startland News will report the winners later today, so make sure to check back to see who of our predictors was most accurate. An underlined company denotes who they think will win the people’s choice award. Click here to see what companies won the grants.
Melissa Roberts, marketing director at the Enterprise Center of Johnson County (5 correct)
LaborChart
KC Drone Company
Integrated Roadways
SkillGravity
Edge Up Sports
SquareOffs
Nodal Security
Pycno
Blooom
Ulytic
Rick Usher, assistant city manager for entrepreneurship and small business with the (5 correct)
Ovatemp
Integrated Roadways
KC Drone Company
REI Hammer
SquareOffs
Blooom
Loadlytics
TapTeach
PopBookings
Ulytic
Grant Gordon, president of Solomon Consulting (1st place, tie, 7 correct)
HealthID
KC Drone Company
SquareOffs
Vertisense
Blooom
Loadlytics
PopBookings
TapTeach
VideoFizz
Ulytic
Jason Grill, senior advisor at Parris Communications (1st place, tie, 7 correct)
Integrated Roadways
HealthID
SkillGravity
Edge Up Sports
SquareOffs
Pycno
Blooom
Loadlytics
PopBookings
VideoFizz
Bryan Azorsky, founder of Tin Man Prints (6 correct)
Ovatemp
Integrated Roadways
HealthID
Edge Up Sports
Mobility Designed
Pycno
Vertisense
Blooom
PopBookings
TapTeach
Kaitlin Motley, technology marketer (5 correct)
Ovatemp
Integrated Roadways
HealthID
Edge Up Sports
Nodal Security
Pycno
Virtutecture
Blooom
Loadlytics
Ulytic
Dustin Abercrombie, founder of VeriQuik (1st place, tie, 7 correct)
LaborChart
Integrated Roadways
Edge Up Sports
KC Drone Company
Nodal Security
Virtutecture
Vertisense
Blooom
PopBookings
VideoFizz
Scott Howell, front-end web developer at Pinsight Media+(1st place, tie, 7 correct)
LaborChart
Integrated Roadways
Edge Up Sports
SkillGravity
SquareOffs
Nodal Security
Pycno
Vertisense
Blooom
PopBookings
Matthew Marcus, founder of 1 Minute Candidate (5 correct)
Ovatemp
SkillGravity
Edge Up Sports
SquareOffs
Pycno
Vertisense
Blooom
PopBookings
VideoFizz
Ulytic
Featured Business

2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Kauffman’s new grants go live this week; here’s what we know about the revised funding priorities
The announcement of five new grants opportunities from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation brings months of anticipation and potential uncertainty to a head, offering a more clear view into the relaunched grantmaking strategy of the influential Kansas City philanthropic organization. New applications for funding through the Kauffman Foundation open Aug. 29 — about four months…
Digital Health KC debuts Lumi Awards with star-powered roster of tech honorees
Healthcare is a team sport and Kansas City has all the players, said Dick Flanigan, heaping praise on the region’s innovators at the intersection of healthcare and technology. “We have key entries in every sector, allowing us to tap into these companies and individuals to truly form a winning team,” said Flanigan, president of Digital…
Shoppers lined the block to visit their vintage clothing store; now they’ve curated a new, larger space in KC’s West Bottoms
As brothers Thomas and Reade Rex open the doors to their relocated and expanded vintage clothing store this weekend in Kansas City’s West Bottoms, the event will be a culmination of years of hard work, passion, and a shared vision — plus significant customer support and loyalty, they said. “We’ve always done things together,” said…
World Cup will be KC’s biggest-ever event, top founder says (and local businesses can still get in the game)
When Neal Sharma co-founded DEG at the turn of the millennium, Kansas City felt like it had an inferiority complex, he said. Fast forward to 2024, and the city is teeming with extrinsic validation, he added. The exited founder-turned-civic leader hopes being a World Cup host city in 2026 pushes Kansas City to take a…









