Launch KC—which will award $50,000 grants to up to 10 startups next month—received more than 500 applications for its inaugural competition. So far, the field has been narrowed to 100 companies.

It’ll be further reduced to 20 companies that will present their ideas during Techweek Kansas City, said Drew Solomon, vice president of business and job development at the Economic Development Corp. of Kansas City.

One of the 10 winners will be a “crowd favorite” selected by the public. Though this is the first year for Launch KC’s grant program, “it’ll only get bigger and better from here,” Solomon said.

Solomon spoke during a countdown party for Techweek, a weeklong festival and conference devoted to technology and entrepreneurship. It’ll run Sept. 14-20. This is the first time that Kansas City has hosted a Techweek event.

Katy Lynch, the president of Techweek, told the crowd at the Sprint Accelerator that the event is dedicated to building a better world for tech entrepreneurship. A big part of that involves getting different parts of the tech community into the same room so they can make connections and showcase the best new ideas.

You can find a schedule of Techweek Kansas City events at this website.