ScaleUP! KC announces eighth cohort of firms eyeing serious growth
August 24, 2018 | Startland News Staff
The ScaleUP! Kansas City program has welcomed another large batch of growing companies hoping to accelerate their businesses.
ScaleUP announced Wednesday that it accepted 17 Kansas City area companies into its ranks, offering the firms mentorship, resources and connections.
Check out these stories from the previous 2018 ScaleUP! cohort
• CEO Raina Knox: Millennials don’t have a monopoly on startup momentum
• KC-based SouveNEAR vending machine startup prepping to scale up
• KC Shave Company cuts its own niche with blades of disruption
The new cohort of entrepreneurs represent varied industries, such as IT, wellness, landscaping, education, architecture and more, said Jill Meyer, program director of ScaleUP! KC. Including the latest group of businesses, ScaleUP! Has helped 126 companies grow through its free program, amplifying their economic impact in the region, she added.
“Year after year, we see that ScaleUP! KC is such a vital program for the city’s small business owners — and you can see that in the numbers,” Meyer said.
With two cohorts per year, the program helps qualified businesses with revenues above $200,000 reach their expansion goals by leveraging and expanding existing proven programs, synergies and connections in the Kansas City region, according to ScaleUP!
ScaleUP! is funded through a grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and administered by the UMKC Innovation Center.
Here’s more on the 17 business leaders now in the ScaleUP! program.
- Mollie Ahlers-Estes, Ahlers Building Maintenance Co., LLC, Lenexa, Kansas
- Henrik Andersen, Scandinavian Co-Op, LLC, Kansas City, Missouri
- Angel Canday, Natural High Wellness Center, Leawood, Kansas
- Kristen Christian, Bee Organized, LLC, Overland Park, Kansas
- Brandon Dye, Dye Electric, LLC, Kansas City, Missouri
- Drew Ford, Kakkuro Suite, Overland Park, Kansas
- Aaron Fulk, Lillian James Creative, Mission, Kansas
- Kita Gandhi, B.I.C. Design Co., North Kansas City, Missouri
- William Gibson, Down to Earth Services, Kansas City, Missouri
- Christopher Martin, ProcureIT Network, LLC, Grain Valley, Missouri
- Phillip Martin, cfm Distributors, Inc., Kansas City, Missouri
- Patricia McCreary, Margaret’s Place, LLC, Kansas City, Missouri
- Laurie Miller, Ross Miller Cleaners, Kansas City, Missouri
- Lisa Schmitz, Lisa Schmitz Interior Design, Kansas City, Missouri
- Amy Slattery, Odimo, Kansas City, Missouri
- Shantelle Tomlin, Tomlin Academy, Kansas City, Missouri
- Kirby Virden, Maxim Outdoor Signs, Overland Park, Kansas
Featured Business

2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Athlete Network adds hall-of-famer Warren Moon to its roster
It’s not everyday that you add a hall-of-fame quarterback to your team. In establishing a new, high-impact advisory board, Athlete Network has landed former NFL superstar Warren Moon as a team member that will help guide the startup moving forward. Moon previously played for the Houston Oilers, Minnesota Vikings and other pro teams, racking up…
2017 Sprint Accelerator class makes its KC introductions at 1 Million Cups
Less than two weeks into the program, the 2017 Sprint Accelerator cohort introduced themselves to the community on Wednesday at 1 Million Cups. The accelerator recently welcomed seven startups representing its two tracks — ag tech and digital — that arrives from all around the country. Hailing from states like Texas, New York, Florida, Georgia…
New book on Gen Z workforce taps Blue Valley CAPS
A book dissecting the behaviors of “Generation Z” entering the workforce has featured a Kansas City-area education program for its innovative model. Written by David and Jonah Stillman and published in March, Gen Z @ Work highlighted the Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies as a model that’s better preparing students for an evolving…
Kauffman exec departs for leadership role at Startup Genome
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s vice president of research and policy is departing the organization for a San Francisco-based firm focused on startup ecosystem research. A 12-year veteran at the Kansas City-based foundation, Dane Stangler is now the head of policy at Startup Genome, a company that researches ecosystems and advises policymakers to increase the…
