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
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…
Coming soon: 8 new tech startups set for ‘lucky No. 7’ Pure Pitch Rally spot-cash event
From nutrition to logistics, local entrepreneurs continue innovating solutions that could result in Kansas City’s next unicorn, said Karen Fenaroli. Eight such potentially game-changing tech startups are expected to showcase their ideas next month, she announced Tuesday. The seventh annual Pure Pitch Rally is set to return Oct. 17 at the Burns & McDonnell Global…