Student investors hope to make inroads with KC founders through pitch day
March 19, 2018 | Elyssa Bezner
A group of student investors in the Kansas City University Venture Program are working to jump start deal flow and create relationships with Kansas City entrepreneurs.
Crosser
Launched in 2017, the student-led fund is hosting a pitch event to start a dialogue with area startups in hopes of finding their newest investment deals, said Nate Crosser, a University of Kansas law student and an intern with the fund.
The fund aims to not only boost area businesses with funding but also better educate the future of venture capital professionals, Crosser added.
“It gives students in Kansas City real world exposure to and experience with venture capitalism,” he said. “We hope that this will help create a base of knowledgeable young private finance professionals who can get involved in KC’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. We hope to bolster the local economy by investing in home-grown businesses and by playing a part in further establishing KC as a startup hub — having a robust professional finance sector is a key part of that.”
The KCUVF inaugural pitch event is set for March 30 at the WeWork Corrigan Station, Crosser said. All innovative companies with the ability to scale can apply, he added.
Businesses interested in pitching to the KCUVF can apply here.
A panel of representatives from five or six businesses are expected to participate in the casual and conversational pitches to gain a better knowledge of the startups and the teams, Crosser added.
With one startup already in its portfolio — Apptegy, based in Little Rock, Arkansas — KCUVF’s investments range from $15,000 to $100,000.
Led by Royal Street Ventures in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, the University Venture Fund and the Sorenson Impact Center, the KCUVF program is modeled on the long-standing success of the Utah University Venture Fund, the largest student venture program in the U.S.
Featured Business
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Big Fly Gear takes the field with vintage feel, historic ties to Kansas City baseball
Signing off his live broadcast, Los Angeles Angels broadcaster Victor Rojas receives a phone call. A fresh order of prints — featuring Hank Aaron’s “755” — have just shipped. The Overland Park native’s apparel startup, Big Fly Gear, has been growing steadily since its launch in February, Rojas said. The clothing line, fittingly, celebrates historical…
Tired of waiting at the barber shop? An AI-infused platform grown at UMKC could trim time
Born in the barber’s chair, Kansas City-based ScheduleMe could take more than a little off the top for service-based retailers. The startup plans to use artificial intelligence to groom the haphazard scheduling process entirely, its co-founders said. “We discovered that [our barbershop] was having issues with scheduling. What we wanted to do was try to…
AudreySpirit fashions clothing to help chronically ill child patients feel like themselves again
AudreySpirit is designed to bring dignity to chronically sick children, said Donna Yadrich, detailing a specially created clothing line that doesn’t sacrifice practicality. “When my daughter Audrey was in the [Intensive Care Unit] the last time, I was looking at her arms and she just had so many wires and everything coming out of her…
KCultivator Q&A: Chad Feather ventured to China and back, stayed for KC kindness, community
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by Plexpod, a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes. Age doesn’t define entrepreneurial talent and Chad Feather is proof, he said…