AccessAble Living: $10K prize will help AltCap Your Biz winner speed services to seniors
November 21, 2019 | Austin Barnes
A medical supply startup designed to help Kansas Citians age in place earned judges’ seal of approval — and $10,000 — in the 2019 AltCap Your Biz Competition.
Dr. Brandy Archie, AccessAble Living
“I hope this is a jumpstart for us to help solve a common healthcare problem,” said Dr. Brandy Archie, director of AccessAble Living, Wednesday night during Global Entrepreneurship Week as she received the first place prize in the fifth showing of the AltCap competition.
Reinventing living spaces with easy, affordable fixes, AccessAble Living works to provide its senior and reduced mobility clients with the necessary tools and resources to maintain comfortable lives in their own homes, Archie explained during a pitch to judges.
“I can promise this money is going to go to a really good cause and help people in the Kansas City area,” she told a crowd gathered for the competition’s grand finale and happy hour at the Black Archives.
Most AccessAble Living clients receive an assessment and necessary upgrades to their living space within seven days, Archie noted. The cash infusion from AltCap will help the startup grow its inventory and could reduce turnaround time to less than one day.
Click here to view AccessAble Living’s application video.
African Designs by Liliane and Amisi
Kanbe’s Market
African Designs by Liliane and Amisi secured $5,000 as the competition’s second-place winner, while Kanbe’s Market walked away with third place and a $2,500 injection.
“It’s been an amazing, really emotional day,” said Davin Gordon, business development officer at AltCap. “It’s been tough on our judges — because everybody was amazing. All of our finalists deserve an opportunity to win and all of you are great.”
“This is really the reason why I get up every single day … these sorts of opportunities,” Gordon continued. “Not only to create meaningful relationships, but also gather a community of people to support you and show you why your work is so important to Kansas City.”
New in 2019, AltCap added a Fan Favorite Award to the competition. Social media votes awarded a $500 prize to White Noiz Studio — a digital content agency.
White Noiz Studio
Healthy Hip Hop, Duct Tape Grandparenting, Blockchain Water, Neighborbuilt, Safely Delicious and SandByrd Design also competed in the pitch contest.
Previous winners of the AltCap Your Biz competition include Rightfully Sewn, Maker Village, Barefood’n Happy, and Hostel KC.
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
Entrepreneurial foundation names local ‘startup champion’ as director
The Kansas City Startup Foundation’s year-long search for a new executive director ended right where it began. The foundation — whose mission is to unify Kansas City’s startup and entrepreneur community — recently hired Matthew Marcus as its executive director. Marcus, who most recently served as the foundation’s chairman, will begin his tenure in May. “It’s…
How wearables could change America’s pastime and Amazon’s big oops
In this week’s roundup of watercooler talk from the region’s startup hubs, we have the dish on Major League Baseball wearables, Amazon’s flub with expanding the digital divide and Chicago’s STEM workforce issues. Check out more in this series here. Mobile Commerce Press: Major League Baseball gives the nod to wearable technology No, this doesn’t…
The red carpet, garageband and laboratory of funding models
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. “Funding! Funding! Funding!” It’s the warrior’s cry of the startup community. In the world of entrepreneurship, there’s an incredible amount of pressure to run a startup that can be described as “disruptive,” “innovative” and “scalable.” Those descriptions come with a hefty price tag,…
Kauffman Foundation CEO serves up 5 policies for entrepreneurial growth
Adaptation, experimentation and research. No, those aren’t tips to run a startup. Rather, they’re a few of the recommendations for lawmakers to consider if they’d like to spur nationwide entrepreneurial growth, according to Wendy Guillies, CEO of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Now nearly a year into her tenure as CEO, Guillies recently presented five…