Plug and Play: Global accelerator could unify animal health corridor, grow Topeka’s startup ecosystem
September 12, 2019 | Austin Barnes
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation.
TOPEKA — Globally lauded VC-firm and corporate innovation hub Plug and Play stands to bridge regional gaps in the Midwest’s animal health corridor with the launch of a new accelerator in Topeka.
“This will put Topeka on the map in terms of innovation,” said Jon Keddy, CTO of Security Benefit and Greater Topeka Partnership advisory board member.
Laser focused on animal health and ag tech, Plug and Play’s latest accelerator — the fourth outside of its Silicon Valley headquarters — will welcome 20 startups into its 90-day Top City cohort, the program said in a release.
“Topeka’s partnership with Plug and Play is the first step in realizing our vision of making Topeka a hub of innovation for the entire region,” said Katrin Bridges, senior vice president of innovation at Greater Topeka Partnership.
“In 2018 alone, Plug and Play accelerated 1,107 startups worldwide,” she added. “Plug and Play will leverage their global innovation platform to attract animal health/ag tech startups to Topeka which will have a tremendous economic impact on Shawnee County and the entire region.”
Click here to browse other Plug and Play programs.
With a growing animal health corridor, such Kansas City companies as ELIAS Animal Health and Scollar have been vocal about the region’s strength in the space.
Lisa Tamayo, Scollar
“We continue to develop a lot of ideas about how we can not only become part of the community initiatives that we’ve seen — and we think are really vital to the region — [but what we can bring to the table ourselves],” Lisa Tamayo, founder and CEO of Scollar, said when the company relocated to the metro in April.
ELIAS Animal Health, founded and run by Tammie Wahaus, was recently named one of Kansas City’s Top-VC Backed Companies in 2019.
“The addition of Plug and Play to our 22-county, bi-state region, further enhances the established and growing ecosystem that attracts and supports emerging and established companies alike,” Kimberly Young, president of the KC Animal Health Corridor, added in recognition that the program could provide pathways to opportunity for startups on both sides of the stateline.
New momentum for a growing ecosystem, the Greater Topeka Partnership is confident the program will draw more startups to Kansas’ capital city, Bridges said.
“We will also work to attract and retain [cohort companies] to the area, growing the Topeka startup community in the process,” she added.
Planning for the accelerator’s first cohort is ongoing. An official start date has not been announced.
This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
Featured Business
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KCultivator Q&A: John Coler champions making a quick impact, packs of dolphins
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. Today Startland takes a closer look at startup ecosystem champion John Coler. Check out our features on Made in KC’s Tyler Enders, Hispanic business builder Pedro Zamora, ‘fashionpreneur’ Jordan Williams, Plexpod founder Gerald Smith, innovation coach Diana…
Backed by $4M round, Hilary’s Eat Well expanding organic food line, hiring 10-15 workers
Hilary’s Eat Well is growing its plant-based food line, company leaders said. The move to diversify the company’s offerings — as well as to more efficiently produce larger quantities of its free-from (dairy- and gluten-free) products — comes as the Lawrence-based operation moves its storage to an off-site facility, freeing up manufacturing space, said Lydia…
City challenges startup leaders to swap social media for in-person dialogue on regulation
Editor’s note: Rick Usher is a member of the Kansas City Startup Foundation’s policy committee, and Sarah Shipley is a board member for KCSF, the parent organization of Startland News. This piece was independently produced. There’s a void of shared awareness between city government and the startup community, Rick Usher said. That’s why government officials and leaders…
8-year-old Raytown entrepreneur strings together jewelry business
Raelynn Heath’s bling is inspiring, her mother said. The 8-year-old entrepreneur has spent half her life developing a brand built on crafting original jewelry and repairing broken pieces, she said. “We take a little bit of the old and the new and the practical,” said Regina Lastiee-Heath. Young Raelynn markets her jewelry on Facebook and…