Kauffman Foundation announces winner of 1 in a Million contest
November 15, 2016 | Bobby Burch
Kansas City’s reign atop the national 1 in a Million contest has ended.
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation announced Wednesday that Anchoraged-based Pandere Shoes won the contest, beating out one local finalist and winning $25,000 in the process. The Grooming Project was the sole Kansas City firm left in the competition, which challenges 1 Million Cups presenters from around the U.S. to compete for a $25,000 prize.
Pandere Shoes was founded by Laura Oden, Celia Crossett and Ayla Rogers.
To compete in 1 in a Million, eligible startups had to submit a 60-second video pitch for the prize. Kansas City-based financial tech startup Blooom took home the first prize last year, earning Kansas City bragging rights in the inaugural contest.
The Grooming Project is a nonprofit that teaches at-risk mothers the trade of dog grooming to provide them with an opportunity for a living wage. Founder Natasha Kirsch started the enterprise because she believes that a living wage does more than provide people with money — she wants to elevate and empower women from situations of poverty, crime or abuse.
For reaching the top five of the competition, the company will receive a $5,000 cash prize. To learn more about the Grooming Project, check out Startland’s feature on the firm.
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Ronawk lauds departing chief science officer as she launches her own biotech startup
Kansas City’s life sciences ecosystem continues to expand, the founders of Ronawk said Monday, celebrating plans for the Overland Park biotech company’s chief scientific officer to launch her own venture — returning to her roots in diagnostics and drug development, and growing the region’s culture of innovation. Dr. Amy Manning-Boğ is transitioning from her role…
Eyes on City Hall, White House: His app wants to break social media’s grip on your politics
A fractured news and social media ecosystem driven by biased algorithms makes it more difficult than ever to confidently vote based on facts — or even just understand the news of the day, said Mychal Shaw, touting the rapidly increasing but evergreen need for his civic literacy app. “I was raised in a family of…
Kauffman taps financial exec to help foundation invest in ideas, collaborations that expand opportunity
A newly named addition to the leadership cabinet at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is expected to play a crucial role in fostering equitable, inclusive, and sustainable prosperity, said Dr. DeAngela Burns-Wallace, announcing Ben Clouse as the organization’s chief financial officer. “Ben brings a proven record of strategic financial leadership and a deep commitment to…
LISTEN: Ground Truth Ag puts real-time objectivity into grain grading; here’s how it makes your food safer
On this episode of our 12-part Plug and Play Topeka podcast series, we speak with Kyle Folk, CEO and founder of Ground Truth Ag — a next-gen ag-tech company using AI, machine vision and near-infrared spectroscopy to deliver real-time grain-quality data across the farm-to-market workflow. Folk shares how his upbringing on a Canadian farm inspired…