And then there was one: Blooom the sole local firm left in national pitch contest
November 17, 2015 | Bobby Burch
Financial tech startup Blooom is the lone Kansas City-area company to advance in the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s “One in a Million” pitch competition
Out of an initial field of more than 350 companies, the Leawood-based firm advanced to the final round of five in the foundation’s pitch contest. The competition, which will conclude the morning of Nov. 18 during Global Entrepreneurship Week, will award $10,000 to one startup that previously participated in the foundation’s 1 Million Cups program.
The other four startups to advance in the contest are: SwineTech of New Sharon, Iowa; Upsie of Minneapolis, Minn.; DryBox of San Antonio, Texas; and My Solar of Los Angeles, California. Two other Kansas City-area companies — Idle Smart and AEGLE Palette — failed to advance to the final round of five.
A star-studded lineup of businesspeople from around the nation will be judging Blooom and the other four startups. Judges in the competition’s final round of five startups are: Marcelo Claure, CEO of Sprint; Nicole Glaros, chief product officer of Techstars; and Paul Kedrosky, managing partner of SK Ventures.
Kansas City Mayor Sly James will present the first-place team the grand prize of $10,000, while second- and third-place winners will receive $5,000 and $1,000, respectively.
The Kauffman Foundation will be providing a live stream of the competition 9 a.m. Wednesday.
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
What the Flokk? Startup to connect residents with area events
For Trey Rhedrick, the alarm sounds at 5 a.m. He rises before the sun to work at Black & Veatch as a chemical engineer project manager. When finished at 5 p.m., Rhedrick conducts a couple meetings for his other gig before heading home to snarf down dinner. For the next six to eight hours —…
Sprint Accelerator graduate acquired by medical giant
A large California-based health care provider recently announced that it acquired Medicast, a graduate of the Kansas City-based Sprint Mobile Health Accelerator program. Providence St. Joseph Health purchased the firm for an undisclosed amount for its logistics and management platform that automates remote care delivery. In 2014, Medicast participated in the inaugural, three-month program at…
Uber finds KCMO’s proposed ride-sharing regulations ‘troubling’
In a move that will likely reignite lively discussions among government, businesses and residents, the City of Kansas City, Mo. is now considering changes to its ride-sharing regulations for companies like Uber. By directive of the Kansas City Council, city officials are reviewing rules drafted in April of 2015 that aim to ensure public safety…
What do 1 Million Cups presenters reveal about KC’s entrepreneurial community?
Editor’s note: Opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Every Wednesday morning in Kansas City and 91 other cities nationwide, one or two early-stage startups present a six-minute profile of their companies to a diverse audience, followed by 20 minutes of open Q&A. I recently reviewed 51 presentations delivered at 1 Million Cups…