Digital Sandbox KC funding three UMKC student-led startups
January 19, 2016 | Kat Hungerford
Kansas City business incubator Digital Sandbox KC selected three student-led companies for proof-of-concept funding support Tuesday.
The enterprises were selected from the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s E-Scholar program and will join three other E-Scholar companies selected in June as part of Digital Sandbox’s partnership with UMKC. Each student startup will receive $10,000 in project development funding.
“The partnership between Digital Sandbox and UMKC E-Scholars program has been terrific,” Jeff Shackelford, director of Digital Sandbox KC, said in a release. “This was a great example of two Kansas City programs collaborating and together producing higher results.”
Here’s a bit more on each of the student-led companies:
Bulletyn digitizes traditional campus bulletin boards in real-time to increase student engagement with local events. Organizations using the platform also will be able to track and use analytics for event-planning purposes.
gr8box assists customers in finding foods free of the “Big 8 Allergens” of milk, eggs, fish, shellfish, tree nuts, peanuts, wheat and soy. Customers purchase a subscription to receive a monthly box of eight health snack and meal items, which they can then buy locally or in the company’s ecommerce store.
AddVenture creates online advertisements that are video games, incentivizing engagement. The advertisements, called GameAds, are short online video games branded to a business that aim to generate website traffic, boost brand recognition and leverage sales.
The UMKC E-Scholars program is an entrepreneurial development program offered through the university’s Regnier Institute for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The program provides student entrepreneurs with the support and resources to launch scalable and sustainable ventures. Since its first graduating class in 2011, the program has helped launch more than 160 companies.
Digital Sandbox KC is a startup incubator that aims to move early-stage entrepreneurs from concept to commercialization. It provides proof-of-concept resources, including market validation, prototyping and beta testing support. Launching in 2013, the incubator has since worked with more than 300 entrepreneurs across the Kansas City metro area and spurred $22.7 million in follow-on funding. Digital Sandbox KC recently welcomed six other local startups into the program.
Featured Business
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
These brothers brought artisan Mexican designs to the streets of KC; now Pancho’s Blanket is opening a Crossroads shop
A handmade Mexican garment company led by brothers Jonathan and Joseph Garvey is quickly making the leap from First Friday pop up to Crossroads storefront — announcing the debut of a permanent home for the shop next week. Pancho’s Blanket — which partners with artisans in Tlaxcala, Mexico, to design and make wool jackets, blankets,…
KC inventor’s untimely death leaves legacy of fearlessness, unfinished vision
Paul Francis pioneered fitness tech for NASA, commercialized it with Bowflex, then raised $4 million on Kickstarter: How the OYO founder’s unexpected death this month cut his storied entrepreneurial journey short — but left a lasting impression on the people who worked alongside him. Former colleagues are remembering the late Paul Francis as a uniquely…
Pitches and peaches: Hy-Vee awards $30K piece of the $50K prize pie to family-run cobbler company
Denisha Jones sweetened Hy-Vee’s OpportUNITY Inclusive Business Summit and pitch competition this week with her ready-to-bake cobblers. Her pitch (and peaches) secured the $30,000 grand prize. “Every time Thanksgiving comes around, I always crave my grandmother’s cobbler. During the pandemic, I was unsuccessful in finding a cobbler as good as my grandmother’s, so I went…
Meet six newly funded startups Digital Sandbox KC is making more fundable tomorrow
Newly awarded funds are expected to help six more companies scale their fledgling startups past the proof-of-concept stage, said Jill Meyer, touting Digital Sandbox KC’s track record of making startups and their products more fundable once they’re built. “Digital Sandbox KC is one of the Kansas City metro’s rare early-stage funds and provides vital support…