Two startup support programs helped Lelex Prime score Fountain Innovation Fund’s first investment

An interconnected, resource-rich startup ecosystem is paying off for Lelex Prime — contributing to the fast-growing artificial intelligence company’s development and boosting its chances to win the Fountain Innovation Fund’s first cash infusion, said Brendan Reilly. “The Digital Sandbox helped us land this investment,” said Reilly, co-founder and principal at Lelex Prime, which joined the…

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Digital Sandbox KC selects diverse health, AI and filmmaking startups for latest funding

The latest trio of Digital Sandbox KC companies pushes the proof-of-concept program deeper into Johnson County with a new Overland Park partnership. “This group showcases the wide spectrum of businesses assisted by the Sandbox, from a data platform for creative filmmakers and studios, to improved patient care in asthma, to biologics in regenerative medicine,” said…

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We Create KC report: Half of top VC-backed companies tapped early-stage support

In 2018, 50 percent of the top venture capital-funded companies in Kansas City got their start with early-stage investment programs that emerged after 2012, according to We Create KC 2019, KCSourceLink’s sixth annual state of entrepreneurship report. “That high percentage shows us how important these early-stage investment programs are to our entrepreneurs and our ecosystem,”…

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Former ECJC exec Melissa Roberts joins Kauffman Foundation grant making team

Everyone has potential if given the right resources, said Melissa Roberts. “Everybody has great ideas if given the right education. Everybody has the potential to be an economic contributor in our society if given the right motivation and support,” she continued. These aren’t her words and values alone, Roberts said. They’re the legacy of Ewing…

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