Digital Sandbox expands to St. Joseph, partners with animal health incubator
June 21, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
Digital Sandbox KC will expand its efforts northwest to reach entrepreneurs in St. Joseph, Mo.
The proof-of-concept program announced Wednesday that it has established a partnership with Innovation Stockyard, a St. Joseph-based animal science business incubator. Located inside the Christopher S. Kit Bond Incubator, Innovation Stockyard will offer grant recipients of Digital Sandbox office space in their new coworking facility, which is set to open this summer.
Since its launch in 2013, the Digital Sandbox has worked with more than 400 entrepreneurs and startups across the Kansas City metro. In addition to Kansas City and St. Joseph, the program previously established partnerships with the cities of Olathe, Kan. and Independence, Mo.
Jeff Shackelford, director of Digital Sandbox, said that the partnership will spur even more Missouri-based startup ventures.
“This is an opportunity to start to stretch the program further across Missouri,” Shackelford said in a release. “We’re excited to be working with St. Joseph and the northwest part of the state. There are a lot of creative folks in that area with promising business ideas that, with some help, can turn into rapidly growing companies that create many jobs for northwest Missouri.”
Digital Sandbox has created more than 480 jobs and 85 proof of concept projects for Kansas City area startups since its launch. Innovation Stockyard president Ronan Molloy is excited to see similar benefits in St. Joseph.
“By using our new planned coworking space inside the Kit Bond Incubator to house more early-stage St. Joseph and Northwest Missouri entrepreneurs, we will be filling an existing gap in the ecosystem,” Molloy said in a release. “(We will be) maximizing our existing resources and driving an increase in the quantity and quality of early-stage entrepreneurs in northwest Missouri.”
To kick-off the new program, a public celebration will take place on June 28 from 4 p.m. to 6 p.m. at Jack’s restaurant in St. Joseph.
The Christopher S. “Kit” Bond Incubator is located on the Missouri Western State University campus. More information on the Innovation Stockyard incubator can be found here.
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
DivvyHQ founders named finalists for prestigious EY Award
The two men leading the fast-growing tech startup DivvyHQ have been named finalists for the Entrepreneur of the Year 2017 Award in the Central Midwest. DivvyHQ co-founders Brody Dorland and Brock Stechman both were named finalists for the award on Thursday, lending credence to the duo’s tech. DivvyHQ created a planning and collaboration platform…
Effort hopes to rebuild eastern KC neighborhood by reviving jazz roots
Since the 1920s, jazz has built a reputation for Kansas City. About 90 years later, a local organization is hoping the power of jazz can rebuild Kansas City. Led by co-founders and spouses Daniel and Ebony Edwards, KC Jazz LP is working to establish Kansas City as the jazz recording capital of the world while…
After St. Joseph tech firm acquisition, Online Tech expands to KC
Ann Arbor-based Online Tech has acquired a St. Joseph, Mo. cloud firm, paving the way for its expansion into Kansas City. The cloud security company announced Thursday that it purchased St. Joseph-based Echo Cloud, which provides colocation and cloud hosting services. Echo Cloud CEO Bill Severn said he’s pleased to be joining the Online Tech…
Before and after: Tour progress at KC’s massive coworking campus, Westport Commons
Launched in 2015, Plexpod Westport Commons recently opened its doors after completing phase one of the project to revamp a middle school to become a coworking campus. Opened in April, the 160,000 square-foot, formerly vacant Westport Middle School has new life as a huge coworking space that will house more than 500 people and dozens…