The top 20 finalists for the first-ever LaunchKC grant competition have been announced.
Ten of these companies will be chosen to receive $50,000 grants, free office space and other support in downtown Kansas City. The winners will be selected during Techweek Kansas City later this month.
Nearly 500 ventures applied for LaunchKC, and they came from eight countries and 17 states.
“We were looking for the best and brightest to compete in the LaunchKC grants competition. We were very fortunate to have outstanding applicants who exceeded even our high expectations,” said Drew Solomon, vice president of business and job development at the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, Missouri and chair of the LaunchKC grants competition.
The finalists include:
● Alcohoot: Christopher Ayala, New York, N.Y.
● Appbase: Siddharth Kothari, Pittsburgh, Pa.
● Blooom: Chris Costello, Overland Park, Kan.
● CBG Technologies: Ben Rao, Lee’s Summit, Mo.
● Edge Up Sports: Ilya Tabakh, Kansas City, Mo.
● HealthID: Angelo Pitassi Jr., Cranston, R.I.
● Integrated Roadways: Tim Sylvester, Kansas City, Mo.
● KC Drone Co.: Casey Adams, Kansas City, Mo.
● LaborChart: Ben Schultz, Overland Park, Kan.
● Loadlytics: Rashad Sanders, Boston, Mass.
● Mobility Designed, LLC: Liliana Younger, Roeland Park, Kan.
● Nodal Security: Marcus Eagan, Detroit, Mich.
● Ovatemp: Daniel Graf, Kansas City, Mo.
● PopBookings: Erika Klotz, Kansas City, Mo.
● Pycno: Nikita Gulin, Santiago, Chile
● SkillGravity: Alina Kharina, San Francisco, Calif.
● SquareOffs: Jeffrey Rohr, Kansas City, Kan.
● Ulytic: William Martin, Columbia, Mo.
● Video Fizz: Laura Steward, Kearney, Mo.
● Virtutecture: Tracy Ford, Lee’s Summit, Mo.
The Missouri Technology Corporation, the City of Kansas City, Mo., and the William T. Kemper Foundation are key supporters of the LaunchKC program, along with help from Burns & McDonnell, the Cordish Companies, DSI, Downtown Council, Economic Development Corporation, Lead Bank, State of Missouri – Department of Economic Development, UMB Bank, J.E. Dunn Construction, DST Systems, Husch Blackwell, Kansas City Power & Light Company, Lathrop & Gage, Polsinelli LLC and others.
