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
Kansas legal tech startup’s exit unlocks opportunity to accelerate innovation, founder says
An Overland Park startup developing intuitive websites and marketing solutions for small law firms says its just-announced acquisition by a leading cloud-based legal operations platform is the verdict needed to push its services to mid-market clients and beyond. “Combining the best-in-class websites with practice management software unlocks a unique opportunity to deepen product integration and…
Real-world working: Relaunched initiative will put 500 paid teen interns into KC workplaces
A coalition of funders and employers are teaming up to provide 500 high school students across the Kansas City metro with paid summer professional experiences. “It’s really important that we come together as a community for these types of initiatives to make sure our young people are really connecting the dots and moving onto the…
SafetyCulture acquires safety app for decentralized frontline workers who often go it alone
A global workplace operations company with its U.S. headquarters in Kansas City on Tuesday announced the acquisition of SHEQSY, a cloud-based lone worker safety app — a move meant to address an underinvestment in frontline processes, enablement, and emerging technologies, said Luke Anear. “Frontline workers make up 80 percent of our global workforces,” said Anear,…
Cut the code-switching: Honor yourself if you want to be ‘authentic’ in the workplace (Holistic Hustle)
Kharissa Forte is a writer, certified health coach, and columnist for Startland News. Read her “Holistic Hustle” columns for Startland News here. For more of her self-care tips on how to keep your cup full, visit graceandgrind.co. “Just be yourself.” Along with putting my best foot forward and always treating others the way I wanted…