UMKC contest awards $35K+ to winners, feeds student-community innovation

One startup’s winnings from Friday’s Regnier Venture Creation Challenge are expected to have a near-immediate, tangible impact on Kansas City — helping Kanbe’s Markets provide produce in one of its corner markets for an entire year.

“This means that about 4,500 people will have consistent access to fresh, healthy, and affordable food on Kansas City’s east side,” said Max Kaniger of Kanbe’s Markets, reflecting on his social enterprise’s $5,000 prize at the student venture contest.

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What is Kanbe’s Markets?

Founded in 2016, Kanbe’s Markets is a 501c3 nonprofit organization with four full-time employees and three part-time employees that developed an unmatched food distribution model in the Kansas City region. The Healthy Corner Stores (HCS) model was designed to enhance equitable food distribution by intervening on hunger issues for the 400,000 food-insecure individuals and families living in Jackson County food deserts.

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Kaniger, a graduate of the University of Missouri-Kansas City, competed as a community business finalist — a new slot designated for non-students to showcase work being done in the larger community during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“As a non-profit, we really appreciated the opportunity to share our work with so many incredible Kansas City leaders,” Kaniger said, noting increased need within the areas Kanbe’s Markets serves. “Given the current crisis, there are now thousands more people in our city facing food insecurity.”

Click here to learn more about Kanbe’s Markets or to donate to the ongoing effort.

Kanbe’s Markets was one of several RVCC winners Friday, collectively taking home more than $35,000 in prize money at the conclusion of the virtual competition. The event is part of the Regnier Institute at UMKC’s arsenal of programming intended to accelerate startup ideas to launch in a safe environment.

Click here to read more about the virtual Regnier Venture Creation Challenge. 

“UMKC and the Regnier entrepreneurship program provided me with the solid foundation necessary to build my business,” Kaniger noted. “UMKC and the community of alumni have been supporting Kanbe’s from the very beginning. Having that network behind us is a big part of why we are where we are today.”

Among the other prize winning student finalist teams from the 2020 Regnier Venture Creation Challenge:

General track

• Calving Technologies (Mizzou) – $5,000
• Jensen Applied Sciences (Iowa State University) – $4,000
• Interplay (UMKC & E-Scholars) – $3,500
• ChordaWorm Lures (Iowa State University) – $3,000

Blue KC healthcare innovation

• WartPatch (UMKC) – $5,000
• Flyover Counseling (E-Scholars) – $1,000
• Norah Health (Mizzou) – $1,000
• Striae Away (Missouri Science & Technology) – $1,000
• The GuideLine (Missouri Science & Technology) – $1,000

Specialty award winners

• Generation Green (UMKC & Enactus) – $1,000
• Linda Tong Planners (Iowa State University) – $1,000
• Dart (UMKC, E-Scholars & Enactus) – $1,000
• MARGOLOH (Blue Valley CAPS) – $1,000
• Vivas y Muerto (Kansas City Art Institute) – $1,000
• SNidAP (UMKC) — $500 (Innovation Prize)

Click here for more detailed descriptions of each student finalist team.

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This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.

For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn