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
Roller Warriors skate over 1970s-era stereotypes with message of empowerment
Kansas City Roller Warriors are in the business of self-expression, strengthening team bonds and legitimizing their sport, skaters say. The player-owned roller derby league operates as a limited liability company, but essentially functions as a non-profit, organizers said. Having grown from grassroots origins in 2004 to now a member of the Women’s Flat Track Derby…
Prairie Village company’s Firefly lends serenity, tech to backyard fireworks
Prairie Village-based Winco Fireworks is officially launching Firefly, a remote firework firing system, introducing a tech blend to the formerly traditional firework industry and backyard Fourth of July celebrations. “It’s a really neat invention,” said Michael Collar, president of Winco Fireworks, which focuses on consumer fireworks. “There’s a lot of commercial firework companies that do…
We Create KC report: Startup investment soared to $540M in 2017
A startling statistic for those who think capital merely flies over the Midwest: Kansas City saw a 69 percent increase in startup investment from 2016 to 2017, according to KCSourceLink’s We Create KC report. All told, early-stage businesses classified by KCSourceLink as startups — typically defined as those with 20 or fewer employees — nabbed…
Hack Midwest offers coders freedom through 24-hour app creation competition
Technologists are often surprised by what they’re able to accomplish when they work together in a competitive format, Mike Gelphman said. That’s part of the reason Hack Midwest is returning this summer with the objective to inspire more techies to embrace their imagination, said Gelphman, founder of the competition, as well as KCITP, an area…