Kansas City gigabit projects can snag up to $25K from Mozilla

January 26, 2016  |  Bobby Burch

Community members beta test a Gigabit Fund project at Chattanooga’s first Mini Maker Faire. (Photo by Jason Oswald)

The Mozilla Foundation is planning to empower Kansas City techies to improve their city.

The foundation — along with the National Science Foundation and US Ignite — announced Monday that it’s allocating $300,000 to civically-minded, gigabit pilot projects in Kansas City and Chattanooga, TN.

The Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund is now accepting applications from techies and educators in both cities to submit ideas. Applicants can be local companies, non-profits or other institutions interested in tapping Kansas City’ gigabit speeds to improve education and workforce development.

If selected, projects can receive funding between $5,000 and $25,000, in addition to ongoing support and mentoring from Mozilla. The projects must take place in Kansas City, but applicants can come from around the world.

To date, the Fund has supported the development of 17 pilot projects in Kansas City and Chattanooga. Past projects include improved first-responder equipment, a real-time water quality monitoring system and singing robots.

While limited in funding size, the fund has had a positive effect on the local community, Mozilla Gigabit City Lead Lindsey Frost said.

“From relatively small grants have come huge impacts, as these projects continue as yearlong courses in our schools or even as full-fledged gigabit tech startups,” Frost said in a release.

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

Did you enjoy this post? Show your support by becoming a member or buying us a coffee.

Tagged , ,
Featured Business
    Featured Founder

      2016 Startups to Watch

        stats here

        Related Posts on Startland News

        Bank partners with Porter House to give out more than hugs; Meet four latest KC grant recipients

        By Tommy Felts | November 9, 2022

        Cameron Martin understands the importance of scaling deep into the community that inspired his journey and first fed the business he built with his wife, Tameisha, he said. The co-owners of Love is Key — a waffle-centric brunch restaurant and catering concept in the former Soulcentricitea space on Troost Avenue — were awarded a $15,000…

        Cannabis biz expected to grow like a weed after MO voters light recreational marijuana

        By Tommy Felts | November 9, 2022

        Tuesday’s vote in favor of recreational marijuana in Missouri shows Kansas City’s obvious appetite for legalization, said Michael Wilson, whose cannabis startup sees a vast new market opened by the election outcome. Statewide, Missouri poll-goers this week approved the high-profile constitutional amendment with 53.1 percent of the more than 2 million votes cast. In Kansas…

        New $2.2M funding round powers WorkTorch career platform expansion into KCK, KCMO

        By Tommy Felts | November 8, 2022

        Less than a year after sisters Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall became the first Black women in Kansas to raise $1 million in seed funding for their startup, their rebranded Wichita company announced another $2.2 million investment for its rapidly scaling service industry career platform. The new influx of funding — led by Wichita-based Tenzing Capital…

        No ratings, no negative reviews: Restaurant app guides diners through crowd-sourced trust

        By Tommy Felts | November 8, 2022

        Popular restaurant review sites — clouded by negative reviews and manipulated ratings — have often led Leo Esposito astray, he shared. To revolutionize the way people discover their next favorite place to eat, Esposito launched the social app Bōzt. “Our vision is to be the most trusted platform for sourcing restaurant recommendations,” said Esposito, who founded…