Meet the 2020 class: BetaBlox demo day returning with events across startup sister cities
January 6, 2020 | Startland News Staff
Audience tickets for BetaBlox’s Overland Park demo day are nearly gone, said Weston Bergmann, just weeks before the incubator program showcases its newest startups across three events in two cities.
BetaBlox is an exclusive school for startups. Every year, its team picks the best-of-the-best and then puts them through a rigorous curriculum of classes, one-on-one consultation, and mentorship designed to give them a higher likelihood of survival.
The “can’t-miss entrepreneurship event” Jan. 20 at the GRID Collaborative Workspace is expected to entail a combination of pitches, expo-style networking, and a panel of investors speaking about developing startups, said Bergmann, founder and lead investor at BetaBlox.
“It’s kinda like Shark Tank, but you get to be the shark,” he said, comparing the overall event structure to the popular reality TV pitch show.
Two more demo days featuring BetaBlox’s 25th cohort are set for Jan. 29 and Jan. 30 in Tulsa, Oklahoma, where the program also operates its “gym for entrepreneurs.” The 10-year-old incubator boasts graduating companies collectively doing more than $100 million annually, Bergmann said.
While tickets for the events are free — thanks to sponsorship support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, he noted — only 200 are available in Overland Park.
Click here to secure a spot at BetaBlox’s Jan. 20 demo day.
“Essentially anyone who wants to support the development and growth of the Kansas City economy should attend,” Bergmann said.
The twelve companies pitching at the event include:
• Flexy, Kansas City (Mallory Jansen and Aja James) — Fitness staffing agency
• BioGen Ag, Kansas City (Chad Shoefield) — Agricultural food manufacturing
• LockedUp, Kansas City (Eric Ulleberg) — Breathalyzer that literally locks up your car keys
• FlipperForce, Kansas City (Dave Robertson) — House flipping and project management software
• Fantastic55, Kansas City (Ann O’Meara) — Media company for empowering an aging community
• Everwild, Kansas City (Sarah Yaeger) — On-demand and subscription-based floral company
• Cherry Marketing, Kansas City (Jenni Kulzer) — Marketing agency
• River Watch Beef, Kansas City (Chris Kovac) – Grass-fed subscription-based beef
• KC Hemp Co, Kansas City (Kyle and Heather Steppe) — Organic CBD manufacturing
• Tulsa Birth Center, Tulsa (Sarah Foster) — Modern network of midwives
• Baby D’s Sting, Tulsa (Dillon Hargrave) — Hot sauce manufacturing and distribution
• Add Multiply Sports, Tulsa (Corey Else) — Sports performance technology
Nathan Corn, founder of Kansas City’s FlexPro, a subscription-based meal prep company, is expected to be featured in a “Where are they now?” segment focused on BetaBlox success stories.
Founders from the companies plan to practice pitches before the event during a weekend-long session that puts startups in close quarters with each other, as well as about 20 people from the BetaBlox portfolio (entrepreneurs, mentors and investors) and another 20 curated guests from the entrepreneur ecosystem.
Learn more about BetaBlox and its demo day below.
Featured Business
2020 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Kansas City ESO icon Maria Meyers championed for bringing SourceLink to the world stage
A decades-long effort to grow inclusive entrepreneurial communities by strengthening access to critical resources began as a grassroots movement in Kansas City, said Maria Meyers, whose work recently earned her global recognition — and a rare honor in recent years for an American recipient. Meyers, the founder of SourceLink — a first-of-its-kind platform boasting more…
How this startup founder earned $200K in unrestricted, trust-based funding to transform KC’s relationship to food
Long-term community change comes one meal at a time, acknowledged one of Attane Health’s biggest supporters, reflecting on the Kansas City startup’s growth from the “spark of an idea to a full-fledged solution” — ultimately earning its founder a game-changing funding boost. The St. Louis-based Missouri Foundation for Health this month announced its inaugural Spark Prize…
Kauffman awards $5.8M funding pipeline to research how to close wealth gaps in KC, beyond
Eight newly announced research grants from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation are expected to help catalyze research-based efforts aimed at growing equitable economic mobility in Kansas City, regionally, and nationally. More than $5.8 million in research funding will be disbursed over the next three years through this first round of grantmaking through Kauffman’s new research…
KC’s top emerging business is brewing more than just beer at 18th and Vine, owners say
Winning the Emerging Small Business Award is validation that Vine Street Brewing Co. — Missouri’s first Black-owned brewery — is tapped into what the community wants and needs, two of its owners said Tuesday. “It signifies we’re moving along with purpose and that we can really lean into our goals,” explained Annie McGinnis, co-owner and…