The clock is ticking: LaunchKC grants’ deadline is Friday

July 5, 2017  |  Bobby Burch

Downtown Kansas City

Startups in Kansas City and beyond have about 48 hours to apply for LaunchKC grants.

The contest — which will allocate $500,000 via nine grants to startups from around the nation — will accept applications until 11:59 p.m., July 7.

LaunchKC will dish out eight $50,000 grants and one $100,000 grand prize. The final round of competition will unfold live at Techweek Kansas City on Friday, Sept. 15 during a pitch contest.

In 2016, LaunchKC drew more than 400 tech startup applicants for the second year in a row.

In addition to a grant, winning entrepreneurs receive other benefits, including free office space for one year; industry-specific mentors; and professional services, in areas such as legal, financial, and marketing. The grant competition is led by the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City and the Downtown Council of Kansas City.

Winners of the 2016 LaunchKC grants were: Big Bang, BLITAB, ConsultUS, FEWDM, Forest Devices, Labor Chart, Mobility Designed, Mycroft AI, Perfect Cube and Super Dispatch.

Winners of the 2015 LaunchKC grants were: Blooom, Integrated Roadways, KC Drone Company, Nodal Security, Health ID, PopBookings, Pycno, SquareOffs, Vertisense and VideoFizz.

Learn more about the competition here.

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

Did you enjoy this post? Show your support by becoming a member or buying us a coffee.

2017 Startups to Watch

    stats here

    Related Posts on Startland News

    KC favorites eye World Cup: How to become ‘the spot’ for visitors without losing KC flavor

    By Tommy Felts | November 18, 2025

    Even a visitor can become a repeat customer, said Dulcinea Herrera, stressing the importance of Kansas City businesses making their establishments a destination — not just a one-time stopover or accidental find — for international fans and other out-of-town guests when the FIFA World Cup arrives next summer. The goal: Win them over with intentional…

    Meet LaunchKC’s winners: $60K prize today; world headquarters in KC tomorrow

    By Tommy Felts | November 18, 2025

    Every iconic company headquartered in Kansas City — from Helzberg Diamonds to Hallmark — started with an entrepreneur hoping to scale a small idea into big impact, said Jim Erickson, teasing a next wave of emerging startups and the latest winners of the LaunchKC grants competition. Eight early-stage companies were announced Monday as recipients of…

    Tesseract pairs one-button robotic badge with real-time, multi-industry workforce tracking 

    By Tommy Felts | November 18, 2025

    A new site management platform — complete with wearable robots designed to automatically document work as it happens — is expected to help construction, infrastructure, and military teams gain real-time clarity across their projects and workforce, said John Boucard. “Instead of relying on spreadsheets, manual reporting, or guesswork, leaders now have continuous visual and sensor…

    LISTEN: KoraLabs connects AI to the field, helping agtech grow a more sustainable future

    By Tommy Felts | November 15, 2025

    On this episode of our 12-part Plug and Play Topeka podcast series, we speak with Luca Corinzia of KoraLabs — an agtech pioneer based in Switzerland that’s bridging the gap between scattered farm data and actionable insights. KoraLabs’ AI-driven “digital twin” platform integrates field data, satellite imagery, soil and weather models to help agronomists and…