Kauffman Foundation offers $25K via ‘1 in a Million’ contest
September 8, 2016 | Meghan LeVota
Think your business is one in a million?
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is offering 1 Million Cups presenters from the last year a chance to snag some cash — and this year they’ve bumped up the prize to $25,000.
In its second year, the 1 in a Million competition is open to any firm that has presented at one of 99 cities to host 1 Million Cups between Aug. 12, 2015 to Aug. 24, 2016. To enter, businesses must submit a 60-second elevator pitch online by noon, Sept. 13. More than 20 competitors have already applied.
1 Million Cups was established in Kansas City in 2012 and the format has since spread to dozens of cities around the world. Every Wednesday morning, two startup founders present to an audience with the intent to educate, engage and network — all over a cup of coffee. The audience then serves up critical questions to founders in an effort to challenge their business models and approaches.
This year, the competition will be entirely virtual. Once judges have narrowed down businesses to the top 40, the public will vote on the top 15 semi-finalists. The public will later be prompted in an additional round of voting that will narrow submissions to five finalists, and a panel of Kauffman fellows will make the final decision.
In addition to $25,000, the winner receives bragging rights as well as the No. 1 trophy. Kansas City-area startup Blooom won the competition in its inaugural year by presenting its online 401(k) management tool. Four other Kansas City startups entered the round of 40.
Featured Business
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Duo designs Paloma Post greeting cards for more inclusive representation of couples
As she stood flipping through an endless sea of birthday cards, Julie Korona couldn’t find a single one that would send the right message to her then-fiancé, Tyler, she recalled. “All of the cards that I was looking through either said ‘husband’ or were super generic,” said Korona, co-founder of Paloma Post — a newly…
Cloud platform Packet opens KC office after $25M funding round in New York
New York-based Packet’s newly established Kansas City office is expected to take full advantage of the area’s wealth of tech talent, said Ihab Tarazi. “There is actually a very good technical base in Kansas City — so here’s validation of that,” said Tarazi, chief technology officer at the cloud infrastructure firm committed to “building a…
Skip restaurant lines (and downloading another app) with text-based ordering
In an increasingly automated world, American consumers are experiencing app exhaustion while continuing to need innovative solutions to address daily pain points like waiting in lines at their favorite restaurants, said Eric Tucker. “People are tired of downloading apps,” said Tucker, founder of KC-based Digital Baron, which delivers Skip, an app-less mobile and pay platform.…
Cleaner, more durable design: Future of construction is already Built, says Andrè Davis
Built Interior Construction is “precision-cutting” cities of the future by injecting innovation into the slow-moving construction industry, said Andrè Davis. “The challenges in our industry is that construction methods are so archaic,” said Davis, business development executive at the Kansas City interior construction firm, founded in 2016 by Russ Branden, David Anderson, and Mark Brandmeyer.…