Olathe biotech startup represents Kansas in MassChallenge’s 50th accelerator program
July 8, 2021 | Channa Steinmetz
More than 3,000 startups across the world applied to the 2021 MassChallenge accelerator program with Olathe-based biotechnology lab Ronawk earning one of the 229 slots to participate, shared A.J. Mellott.
“[MassChallenge] has a really good reputation for accelerating companies that are in the startup mode and growing,” said Mellott, who co-founded Ronawk in 2019 with fellow scientist Heather Decker. “We’re given access to a wide network of mentors, resources and investors, along with helping companies in refining the pitch.”
The 229 invited startups represent the best of innovation and entrepreneurship from around the globe, wrote Cait Brumme, the senior vice president of MassChallenge Early Stage.
“The founders of each of these startups represent innovation at its core: they saw a problem and reframed it as an opportunity to improve the way we all live, work, and play by creating new businesses,” she shared on the accelerator’s website. “… Never has it been clearer that the ideas and the talent to bring innovation to life come from all corners of the world.”
Ronawk represents Kansas as the only startup from the Sunflower State in the 2021 cohort. Relay Trade in KCMO joins Ronawk in representing the greater Kansas City metropolitan area.
Click here to read why Ronawk was listed as one of Startland News’ 10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2021.
From the accelerator, Mellott and Decker hope to connect to other metropolitan areas with parallel research that might provide more insight into Ronawk’s state-of-the art technology, Tissue Blocks (T-Blocks) — which allow for researchers to rapidly expand the growth of cells.
“We’re hoping this program helps us gain access to national advisors who are in Texas, Boston and San Francisco,” Mellott noted. “Also — the big thing is we’re hoping to gain more exposure outside of Kansas City.”
Watch a video below of Mellott’s interview from Startland News’ Startups to Watch interview special, then keep reading.
Heather Decker and A.J. Mellott, Ronawk
The MassChallenge cohort is broken down into various groups, based on geographical location. Ronawk is participating in the Houston program. Other programs include Austin, Rhode Island and Boston.
News of the accelerator follows Ronawk’s announcement of plans to launch a STEM training facility amidst expanding their team.
Click here to read more about how Ronawk plans to create 150 jobs over the next seven years.
The MassChallenge Accelerator concludes Oct. 28, 2021, with a startup showcase and awards ceremony.
“It’s an intensive accelerator program, so Heather and I are definitely tag-teaming it,” Mellott said. “But we are really excited for what’s to come.”
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
2021 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Look to your father, not the coach: Why one fit entrepreneur hopes to redefine ‘dad bod’
Fatherhood — like athletics — is a physical and mental challenge with lifelong impacts, said Isaac Thibault, detailing the parallels at the core of his pandemic-pivoted career turn as a personal trainer. Launched this summer, Thibault’s PushIT Fitness targets married men with children — a demographic that allows the 25-year-old Overland Park entrepreneur an opportunity to…
TrackMy Vaccines allows patients to record COVID-19 vaccine reactions; use real-time data to ID trends
With millions of Americans set to be inoculated with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine this year, Kansas City startup TrackMy Solutions transformed its technology into a web app with which patients can track their vaccine reactions, Jeremy Elias said. “There’s a system known as VAERS, or Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, that exists today for any…
Mayo Clinic partnership proves TripleBlind’s privacy tech can be applied to healthcare, co-founder says
A new partnership with Mayo Clinic will put Kansas City-stored TripleBlind’s data privacy promise to the test. “We hope to demonstrate the potential of applying TripleBlind’s data privacy and data clean room solution to accelerate how we develop, test, and deploy AI solutions in healthcare, particularly amidst heavily regulated privacy concerns,” Riddhiman Das, co-founder and…
How challenging norms could be Black founders’ key to overcoming lingering funding gap
When authenticity and startup culture collide, Black founders and entrepreneurs of color often don’t see the same opportunities as their white counterparts, said Daniel Smith, contributing to a gap in funding that splits along racial lines. “I talk a certain way; I have different mannerisms; I like to dress a certain kind of way —…