UMKC pitch contest puts Cafe Cà Phê closer to Jackie Nguyen’s big goal; winners range from students to emerging startups
April 30, 2022 | Austin Barnes and Tommy Felts
The University of Missouri-Kansas City continues to brew innovation — and the return of its Regnier Venture Creation Challenge (RVCC) Friday poured proof, offering more than $88,000 in critical cash prizes to percolating ventures that spill far beyond its classrooms.
“I moved to Kansas City from Washington D.C. over the summer and I started following Cafe Cà Phê on Instagram before I moved here,” said Katya Siddall, vice president of product development and innovation at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Kansas City and presenter of two BlueKC Healthcare Innovation Awards — one of the returning categories in the newly retooled, multilevel competition and showcase of innovation.
Jackie Nguyen, founder and owner of Cafe Cà Phê, records the announcement of the coffee shop’s first-place win in the James and Rae Block Kansas City Startup Awards at the Regnier Venture Creation Challenge
Siddall took the stage in the Bloch Executive Hall moments after the popular Columbus Park-ground, Asian-owned, woman-owned coffee shop secured the contest’s first-place win in the James and Rae Block Kansas City Startup Awards and its $15,000 cash prize.
Jackie Nguyen, founder and owner of Cafe Cà Phê, has gained notoriety in the city’s startup and small business circles for her ability to use passion to overcome plight — vowing to open a brick-and-mortar space for Kansas City’s first Vietnamese coffee shop without taking on any debt.
Friday’s win, if applied to the total of Cafe Cà Phê’s ongoing GoFundMe campaign, would put the small business a few shots over its $75,000 fundraising goal, all but confirming success for Nguyen who was unavailable for comment following the award announcement.
Cafe Cà Phê’ previously won $20,000 in funding from AltCap during its Global Entrepreneurship Week-hosted AltCap Your Biz contest.
Click here to read more about Nguyen’s plans or here to contribute funding.
Risa Stein, founder of SeeInMe, accepts the second-place award in the James and Rae Block contest at the Regnier Venture Creation Challenge
Another woman-founded venture took second in the James and Rae Block contest. SeeInMe, a profile-based platform that helps the public connect with communication-diverse people of all ages, founded by Risa Stein, secured $10,000.
While UMKC-launched ventures saw success in other categories, contenders from other parts of the community (and the state) continued to dominate the annual competition — which sought to dole out more than $88,000 in total prizes.
Additional winners of the 2022 RVCC include:
BlueKC Healthcare Innovation Awards
First Place: Speak IT, $15,000
Founded by Julian Lu, Kai Skallerud, Ajla Salic, and Chris Callan, students at Washington University-St. Louis, Speak IT is a voice-enabled assistive technology for healthcare providers.
Second place: MiDoc, $10,000
Founded by Dr. Linda Wu, Washington University-St. Louis, MiDoc is an electronic stethoscope for use in telemedicine.
Regnier College Startup Awards
First Place: Farm Story, $15,000
An educational platform that connects farmers with consumers and offers insight on where food comes from.
The contest also awarded a total of $750 in excellence in innovation prizes.
Second Place: Crib Coaching, $10,000
Founded by Jill and Justin Bertelsen, UMKC, Crib Coaching has gamified the experience of parenthood, offering new parents an educational outlet to level up their parenting skills.
Third Place: Allter, $5,000
Founded by Michelle Gerschkovich, UMKC, Allter collects and analyzes customer data and produces sizing recommendations for online shoppers.
Outstanding Undergraduate Venture: Sky Sprayers, $2,500
An agtech-focused drone replacement for self-propelled sprayers.
Outstanding Social Venture: Hormonetopia, $2,500
Founded by Najjuwah Walden, Washington University-St. Louis, Hormonetopia teaches women “how to have a better period,” aiming to create greater access to information on the experience of menstruation through an online platform.
Outstanding Creative Enterprise: Tate Berry, $2,500
Berry, UMKC, founded a 17-piece progressive big band and coupled it with a content marketing agency and events company.
Featured Business
2022 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Pure Pitch Rally set for October return at Burns & Mac HQ; startups competing for $1M+ in cash, prizes
A new backer — one of Kansas City’s biggest corporate names — will help amplify the laser-focused mission of the Pure Pitch Rally, said Karen Fenaroli, announcing open applications for the 2022 startup competition. Burns & McDonnell, an industry leader in construction engineering, joins the Pure Pitch Rally as a major sponsor of the annual…
Five KC-area projects get green light for $48.2M in federal funds to bolster supply chain, support racial equity, economic growth
A federal push to make U.S. transportation systems safer, as well as more accessible, affordable, and sustainable will boost a handful of Kansas City modernization projects — including two that would reconnect east-west communities within the metro, the nation’s top transportation official announced Thursday. Nearly $48.2 million in funding is slated for local planning and capital…
ROI from PayIt’s recent $90M investment displays value of MTC’s early support, agency says
Marquee successes for two Show Me state companies — including a massive funding round for one rapidly growing Kansas City govtech scaleup — show the value of Missouri Technology Corporation’s early stage investment programs, said state and agency officials Thursday. A key example, they touted: PayIt, a SaaS platform that simplifies interactions between government agencies and…
Window wordplay: More than meets the eye for lettering artist with a hand in Cafe Cà Phê’s new look
Andrea Bosnak’s name and face might not immediately look familiar, but many Kansas Citians have definitely seen her signature work across the metro. The Spur & Serif lettering artist’s craft is featured at local hotspots like The Nelle, Café Corazón, Alma Mader Brewing, Classic Cookie, Rye, and now Cafe Cà Phê’s new brick and mortar…