Meet the six competitors pitching for $50K in funding in HERImpact’s return to Kansas City
March 1, 2023 | Startland News Staff
Editor’s note: 1863 Ventures is an advertiser with Startland News, though this report was produced independently by the nonprofit newsroom.
The competition slate is set, as a half-dozen of Kansas City’s most promising emerging social entrepreneurs prepare to pitch for $50,000 in a public, shark-tank-style event for women founders.
The live pitch event is set for 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. March 8 at the Bloch School of Management on the campus of the University of Missouri-Kansas City. Click here for free tickets.
“Ford Motor Company Fund and 1863 Ventures look forward to returning to Kansas City for the HERImpact Pitch Competition and supporting the burgeoning ecosystem of women social entrepreneurs,” said Maxwell Young, director of communications for 1863 Ventures.
“This year’s finalists represent conscientious enterprises that are sustainable and address local and national community problems,” he continued. “We are privileged to host the event at the University of Missouri-Kansas City Bloch School of Management as an example to current students of pitching a business idea and providing a unique experience of entrepreneurship. We welcome everyone to attend.”
Competitors for the March 8 pitch event include:
- Nikkie Affholter, Tirza Design — fashion with purpose committed to the empowerment of women, who have survived human trafficking, exploitation, and other forms of abuse.
- Verónica Alvidrez, ParaMI — an apparel and home goods brand to “channel our voice and to help shape the lives we want for ourselves. Our way, our rules.”
- Taylor Burris, The AI Hub — an art incubator that houses studios & lounge space and provides services and opportunities to artists and entrepreneurs.
- Kristan Chamberlain, KC Can Compost — an innovative nonprofit enterprise committed to the transformation of Kansas City’s social and environmental landscapes.
- Deb North, Yes! Athletics — a wrestling gear maker that offers shoes traditionally worn by male athletes in styles and colors appealing to female athletes.
- JaMeshia Sykes, Thriving Intent — a holistic psychotherapy and wellness hub for those with anxiety.
Since 2018, Ford Motor Company Fund has awarded $350,000 in total funding — in addition to training and other critical resources — to women entrepreneurs in Kansas City, Missouri, Washington, D.C., Miami, and Detroit.
The HERImpact Entrepreneurship Summit returned to Kansas City in November, gathering entrepreneurs for a day-long series of fireside chats and panels.
Conner Hazelrigg, the 2021 HERImpact Pitch Competition winner, welcomed attendees and spoke on the imperative of impact and socially conscious work through the development of her company 1773 Innovation Co. and its solar-paneled electric charging stations.
RELATED: ‘Sunshine Box’ inventor earns $25K prize in pitch competition for women-led social ventures
Featured Business
2023 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
She started by getting Black art into Black spaces; now Natasha Ria El-Scari wants all of KC to know what they’ve been missing
A Renaissance woman, Natasha Ria El-Scari — gallerist, curator, poet, spoken word performer, educator, and life coach — has surrounded herself with art throughout her life. However, as the Kansas City native watched her hometown’s art scene flourish and thrive, she noticed not everyone was included. “As the city started to change, and the Crossroads…
Travel on tap: How a KC couple built a self-serve port for international wine lovers north of the river
Grab your wine passport, Russ Johnson said, because this self-serve wine bar allows customers to taste the world one sip at a time. And the technology that makes the business possible? Johnson — a software developer-turned-entrepreneur — built it himself. “Our brand is really focused on going on a vacation and having this world experience —…
Don’t like cookies? Your new favorite weirdough baker hungrily accepts the challenge
Tierney Larson is on a mission to bake the perfect cookies for those like herself with a not-so-sweet tooth, the Outliers Baked Goods owner shared. Each month, the self-taught baker and New York native experiments, developing four new adventurous flavors to please the taste buds of the outliers or weirdoughs of the dessert community —…
Shocked by a discovery while pregnant, this entrepreneur vowed to make self-care products from ingredients safe enough to eat
‘I might as well make my own’ Jess Winns, founder of Ari Rose Body Care, had always been pretty conscious of what she and her three daughters put into and onto their bodies, she said. However, as she researched more about holistic wellness while pregnant with her second daughter, Winns read about how more than…