Tag: Christopher Jones

Winners revealed: LaunchKC awards $300K in rebooted grants competition

By Tommy Felts / November 16, 2022

LaunchKC’s cornerstone grants celebration returned Tuesday after a four-year hiatus, awarding six Kansas City startups — from gaming and edtech to IoT and healthcare — with $50,000 each in non-dilutive grants. “A win for these companies is a win for Kansas City,” said Becca Castro, strategic initiatives manager for the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas…

Read More >

LaunchKC finalists: Meet 13 tech startups vying for six $50K grants in rebooted competition

By Tommy Felts / October 22, 2022

A revived LaunchKC grants competition is set to return in mid-November with more than a dozen companies vying for $300,000 in non-dilutive funding. Finalists were announced Friday. The 13 Kansas City companies selected to compete Nov. 15 were narrowed from more than 90 applicants, said Becca Castro, strategic initiatives manager at the Economic Development Corporation…

Read More >
Christopher Jones, MatchRite Care; Jeff Blackwood, PANDA Healthcare Technologies; Rob Hughey and Karen Hughey, Team Cura; and Juaquan Herron and Rodney McDuffie II, The Vendors Assistant; Digital Sandbox KC

‘Beacon of light’ — Meet four new Digital Sandbox startups that could reshape KC tech

By Tommy Felts / July 6, 2020

Digital Sandbox KC’s latest quartet of funded companies will help Kansas City build a better, more inclusive startup ecosystem, said Jill Meyer. “We’ve always been keenly aware of the inequities in the tech ecosystem, especially for entrepreneurs of color,” said Meyer, who leads Digital Sandbox and is senior director of the Technology Ventures Studio at…

Read More >
OHUB finalists: Christopher Jones, Matchrite Care; Shelley Cooper, Diversity Telehealth; Philip Vanderstraeten, Erkios Systems; Philip Hickman, PlaBook; Leonard Frye, FilmDove; and Clarence Tan, Boddle Learning

OHUB is sending five startups to SXSW, each infused with $50K; Meet the seven KC finalists

By Tommy Felts / December 27, 2019

Iron sharpens iron, said Rodney Sampson, announcing 12 finalists — seven from Kansas City — for $250,000 in investments and a coveted demo day stage at SXSW in March. Each startup is rich with founders who have invested the time and energy to earn a payout from the ecosystem, said Sampson, founder of the Opportunity…

Read More >
Pure Pitch Rally 2019; photo by Mikaela Wendel

Baiting the sharks: How much on-the-spot funding did founders catch at Pure Pitch Rally?

By Tommy Felts / October 18, 2019

A diverse group of entrepreneurs took home $43,000 in cash prizes from Tuesday’s Pure Pitch Rally at The American restaurant. Emulating the popular TV show “Shark Tank,” about 45 investors — or “land sharks” — evaluated presentations from eight Kansas City tech startups and donated $1,000 to one of the companies at the conclusion of…

Read More >