Demo day alert: 13 new Comeback KC Ventures fellows set for debut on GEW KC stage
November 9, 2021 | Startland News Staff
The first crop of Comeback KC Ventures fellows — entrepreneurs offering solutions from healthtech and edtech products to sports evaluations and an animation academy emerging in response to COVID-19 — is expected to highlight more than a dozen companies Thursday during a GEW KC innovation showcase.
“The demo day will allow early participants in the program a chance to show off what they have been working on and to provide the community the opportunity to celebrate some of the successes coming out of the Kansas City ecosystem,” organizers of the newly announced Comeback KC Ventures said.
Click here to register for the virtual demo day 4 p.m. Thursday during Global Entrepreneurship Week Kansas City.
Among the presenting entrepreneurs, which includes familiar faces from Digital Sandbox KC, Pipeline, Pure Pitch Rally and other local competitions:
- Shelly Cooper, SureShow — Read her Startland News profile here.
- Quest Moffat, Kadogo — Read his Startland News profile here.
- Craig Boyle, What Duh Fog — Read his Startland News profile here.
- Gavin Dell, Hollywood Animation Academy — Read his Startland News profile here.
- Doug Hohulin, School of Nursing VR Training
- Jeff Wheeldon, Virtual Museum
Comeback KC Ventures’ 18-month program is led by KC Digital Drive and the UMKC Innovation Center, and focused on supporting entrepreneurs with innovations, products or service lines that are solving needs exposed by the pandemic.
Click here to learn more about the program.
KC Digital Drive also is expected to offer an overview of Comeback KC Ventures during the event, including how others can participate as either startups, advisors or mentors.
Featured Business

2021 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Plug and Play: Global accelerator could unify animal health corridor, grow Topeka’s startup ecosystem
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…
Tinder founder boards advisory team as StoryUP closes oversubscribed $1M+ round
Building a global company requires boots on the ground, Sarah Hill said as she waited to board a flight to Kansas City, hours after the close of her startup’s first million-dollar funding round. “Once the Kansas City investors hopped in, that’s when it came to be oversubscribed — we were just delighted,” said Hill, founder…
Women-led Kansas City companies fuel Launch Health accelerator’s first cohort
Healthcare needs an overhaul and four Kansas City-area companies are among those poised to disrupt the industry as part of the first Launch Health Accelerator cohort, explained Jeremy Tasset. “Through the health accelerator, we were seeking companies with fresh ideas that give rise to improving care and lowering costs that can be readily integrated into…
PayIt’s iKan app named a finalist in Fast Company 2019 Innovation by Design honors
Kansas City’s PayIt isn’t just worthy of investment — its foundational technology continues to win awards alongside the likes of Nike, Microsoft and Mastercard, said John Thomson. Fast Company honored iKan — a PayIt-powered app that allows Kansas residents to pay vehicle registration renewals, renew their driver’s license (the country’s first-ever mobile driver’s license renewal service),…
