ScaleUP! KC welcomes 16 new entrepreneurs to the program
June 7, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
On Wednesday ScaleUP! KC welcomed 16 new entrepreneurs into its incubator program’s sixth cohort.
To qualify, ScaleUP! companies must be in business for at least two years, generate annual sales of between $150,000 and $750,000 and have the potential to reach to $1 million in sales. Startups from the latest cohort represent industries such as software development, healthcare, construction, consulting, cleaning services and more.
Since its launch in 2015, the program has cultivated 77 business owners’ skills. Alumni have gone on to expand facilities, raise capital, launch products and hire more employees.
Jill Meyer, program director of ScaleUP! KC, said that the program has proven to be impactful for the Kansas City entrepreneurial ecosystem.
“ScaleUP! KC has been—and continues to be—such a critical program for Kansas City’s small business entrepreneurs, those businesses, research shows us, that create jobs and fortify our local economy,” Meyer said in a release. “It provides already successful business owners with the tools, coaching, peer mentors—and especially the time and guidance—to focus on effective strategies that will help them scale their businesses.”
Funded in part by the U.S. Small Business Administration, ScaleUP! America awarded the University of Missouri-Kansas City one of the first program contracts nationwide.
On May 30, the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation announced that ScaleUP! KC was one of the eight recipients of its KC Accelerator Challenge, awarding a grant to the program.
“Winning this award will help ScaleUP! further strengthen the success of our alumni with continued coaching and peer mentoring and help us reach deeper into the KC community to support the growth of KC’s small businesses,” Meyer said in a release.
Here are the members of ScaleUP!’s sixth cohort:
- Thomas Assel, Assel Consulting LLC,
- Chris Ayala, First Response Construction LLC
- Cristina Betts, MD HomeCare, LLC
- Sheryl Briggs, ClassApps LLC
- Dawn Cramer, Cramer Capital Management,
- John Crum, Crum Cleaning
- Kathy Gates, The Running Well Store
- Chris Goodwin, Insurance Pros
- April Kramer, Apple Pie Painting
- Nick Lewman, Matai Services
- Elizabeth McFadden, Novella Brandhouse Group, Inc,
- Mani Raman, Yotabites Consulting LLC
- Sara Noble, Noble Designs, Inc.
- Brendan O’Shaunghessy, Ocean & Sea
- Jennifer Rosenblatt, MusicSpoke
- Lori Worthington, Right Angle Advisors
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Self-expression, happiness drive expansion of Selfie Boutique playground
What started as a side project four months ago has grown into a huge, interactive exhibit dedicated to cultivating joy, said Alex Altomare, founder of the Selfie Boutique. “The mission is to bring people together and create happiness,” Altomare said. “The growth has been entirely driven by our supporters on all fronts, and we have…
Brewers ferment market opportunity, health benefits with kombucha startups
Fermented foods represent more than just trendy, niche products, Kansas City’s kombucha startups say. They’re where gut health and market opportunity meet. “If it’s not local, it’s not fresh,” said Lisa Bledsoe, emphasizing the quality advantage Kansas City brewers have over national brands competing for cooler space at metro grocery stores. Bledsoe’s Tea-Biotics Kombucha has…
Applicants pour in for a chance at $500K in LaunchKC grants
Editor’s note: This article is sponsored by LaunchKC but was independently produced by Startland News. After dishing out $1.5 million to 29 startups over the last three years, LaunchKC returns in 2018 with more experience and an enduring determination to drive entrepreneurial impact in Kansas City. The area’s most-popular grants contest already has garnered hundreds…
Peek inside: Wild Way coffee rolling Austin flavor onto Kansas City’s bean scene
Christine Clutton is taking the rollout of her Wild Way coffee camper concept one cup at a time, she said. Debuting Friday in Midtown, the mobile shop — serving coffee, tea and pastries with a mix of Austin and local flavors — is envisioned as a temporary stop on Clutton’s entrepreneurial journey, she said. “Our…