Nearly 30 percent of InvestMidwest applicants from Kansas City
February 8, 2019 | Startland News Staff
Young Kansas City companies are hungry for investor dollars and connections — as evidenced by dozens of metro startups and businesses applying for next month’s InvestMidwest Venture Capital Forum.
Of the more than 140 applications from entrepreneurs in 19 states seeking to pitch their companies, 18 hail from Kansas City, Missouri, and 10 call Overland Park home. Twelve more operate in other cities across the Kansas City metro, according to InvestMidwest.
But only 36-40 overall applicants ultimately will be selected to present March 19-20 at the 20th annual VC forum, organized this year at the Westin Kansas City at Crown Center. Names of applicants and presenters are not released before the event. (Applications closed in early January.)
Click here to register to attend the VC forum.
“InvestMidwest consistently offers a carefully curated collection of the Midwest region’s best young companies that are seeking investments to help boost their businesses to the next level,” said Christine Walsh, executive director of the nonprofit InvestMidwest Venture Capital Forum. “And because we have such strong companies presenting, we consistently attract a great group of investors.”
Click here to read more about how InvestMidwest impacted KC startup Life Equals.
The 2019 event is expected to include three industry tracks, presented simultaneously: life sciences; agriculture, food and bioenergy track; and technology. Presenters will have no more than eight minutes apiece to make a compelling case about their respective businesses to pique the interest of prospective funders.
In addition to industry track venues for presentations, InvestMidwest offers numerous opportunities for entrepreneurs to meet privately with venture capitalists, private and corporate investors, and business, legal and financial professionals.
About 350 attendees — venture capitalists, angel investors and corporate investors — are expected at the 2019 VC forum.
Companies that presented at the previous 19 InvestMidwest events have raised funding in excess of $1 billion in equity, corporate collaborations and exit proceeds, according to the organization. The forum alternates between Kansas City and St. Louis each year.
Featured Business
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
PBS docuseries puts KC creator at the intersection food and ‘transformational travel’
Food travel is about more than getting the most exotic or expensive social media-worthy photo of a meal to share for superficial clout, said Jim Kane, emphasizing the transformation power of connection when someone truly allows themselves to use food as a lens for understanding culture. “Before the pandemic, there were a lot of checklists…
A misstep ended their ‘Squid Game’ run together; the business of their friendship keeps moving
While not everything on reality TV is 100 percent … well, real, the bond between “Squid Game: The Challenge” competitors Stephen Lomas and Chase Higgins is anything but scripted, the Kansas City duo said. Longtime friends and business partners — the two previously co-founded Let’s Get Moving, a social media savvy moving company that gained…
How Kauffman Scholars’ 20-year run reflected the value of representation for Black, Brown students
Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial supporter of Startland News. The legacy of Kauffman Scholars — an initiative of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation that sunset earlier in 2023 after 20 years — can be seen in the decades of students impacted and the passion fueling the effort from within, according to a…
This hands-on video production workshop at DeLaSalle will put careers in focus
A new partnership between a Kansas City video production company and a charter school serving teens along the Troost corridor is expected to give DeLaSalle High School students a stronger entry point into an emerging industry, said Jasmine Nastasi. “It’s a way to help with recruiting, to streamline the process, and to have an official…