Company boosted by Topeka becomes capital city’s latest Plug and Play corporate partner
April 24, 2023 | Startland News Staff
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.
TOPEKA — Plug and Play Topeka announced this week the addition of Bimini Pet Health as a new corporate partner of the Topeka-based animal health accelerator — a move expected to help the company, in turn, expand its product offerings and support its pet supplements brand.
The Bimini deal comes about three and a half years after a coalition of economic development and business officials in Topeka used incentives and a $1.1 million investment in Bimini to expand its online-based startup to a brick-and-mortar facility in Shawnee County.
“Bimini is excited to partner with Plug and Play Topeka and continue our long-standing relationship with Go Topeka as we start the next chapter of our journey,” said Dr. Sam Al-Murrani, owner of Bimini, who credited Go Topeka’s early support as foundational to his startup.
“As a growing animal health company our focus is to become an innovation leader while bringing more jobs to Topeka and Shawnee County,” he continued. “We look forward to continuing to serve our city and community over the coming years, together, with our partners.”
Click here to learn more about Bimini Pet Health.
Bimini joins Plug and Play Topeka’s founding partners Cargill, Evergy and Hill’s Pet Nutrition.
“It’s exciting to see one of our local entrepreneurs come full circle, from starting up his own business and serving on our local boards to now signing on as a corporate partner of Plug and Play’s Animal Health Vertical here in Topeka,” said Stephanie Moran, senior vice president of innovation for GO Topeka. “Bimini truly embodies the health of our local startup community, and we look forward to working with this innovator to grow the area’s prominence in the animal-health realm.”
Lindsay Lebahn, Plug and Play animal health accelerator
Plug and Play’s animal health accelerator in Topeka launched in 2020 and has since helped advance 65 startups, leading to 17 pilot projects/proofs of concept and two successful partnerships between startups and corporate partners.
Twice a year, the local team in Topeka carries out three-month-long business development programs for startups chosen to participate by Plug and Play Topeka’s corporate partners. The accelerator, as well as resulting projects and partnerships, are aimed at facilitating connections that advance the industry.
“We are excited to announce our new partnership with Bimini Pet Health,” said Lindsay Lebahn, senior program manager for Plug and Play Topeka. “By combining our expertise, we aim to push boundaries and develop cutting-edge solutions that bring value to the Animal Health ecosystem. We look forward to collaborating and driving meaningful progress together.”
Headquartered in Silicon Valley, Plug and Play operates in more than 35 locations across five continents. In addition to corporate innovation and startup acceleration programs, it has built an in-house VC to drive innovation across multiple industries where it has invested in hundreds of successful companies, including Dropbox, Guardant Health, Honey, Lending Club, N26, PayPal, and Rappi.
Featured Business
2023 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KC-based OYO Fitness closes a historically successful Kickstarter
To say that OYO Fitness has a successful Kickstarter campaign would be an understatement. The Kansas City-based fitness firm folded up and then crushed its recent crowdfunding effort, which raised a stunning $659,000 for its collapsible and compact exercise device. OYO’s DoubleFlex Black campaign — which snagged pre-orders from 4,200 backers — was the second…
Survivor, innovator Kim Gandy rewards patients for sticking to treatments
In her 20 years working as a transplantation clinician, Kim Gandy found it baffling that a seemingly simple problem had such a difficult time finding a solution. Transplant patients consistently struggled to adhere to their health regimens, resulting not only in significant costs for care providers but also death. “We were literally losing patients,” Gandy…
Kansas City to host national student entrepreneur competition
Kansas City will soon host a national competition for student entrepreneurs. Set for March 6 and 7 at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards will bring its top 25 national finalists to Kansas City. To qualify, student entrepreneurs must be the primary operator of a business less than six years old…
Area experts dive into uncertainty and hope for immigrant entrepreneurship
Now more than ever, it’s important for the community to come together to gain new perspectives. That notion was a driving force behind the February Innovation Exchange in which Startland News dove into the subject of immigration and entrepreneurship. Hosted in partnership with Think Big, the event welcomed a researcher and a policy expert from…