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UMKC venture challenge is adding to its prize pool: Wisdom from seasoned entrepreneurs
A series of “Bloch Talks” during this spring’s Regnier Venture Creation Challenge at UMKC is adding even more depth to a popular university event that’s expected to award $180,000 to student and community entrepreneurs, said Bryan Boots.
Set for April 23 at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management, five speakers are set to give TED Talk-style sessions focused on entrepreneurship and business, each speaker aligning with one of the categories within the annual RVCC competition: tech and digital innovation; health, wellness, and medical; products, services, retail, and experiences; creative, arts, and culture; and non-student community startup.
“It’s a general public event,” explained Boots, an associate teaching professor at the Bloch School, noting Bloch Talks presenters plan to detail their businesses, as well as offer advice and commentary on how they achieved success.
“We want everybody there, but we specifically want the speakers to aim some of their recommendations at people in the audience who are starting their business, whether they’re going to be in the competition or not,” he continued.
Emily Brown, Attane Health, speaks during a May 2025 Startland News Innovation Exchange event, presented by Morgan Stanley at Spark Coworking; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News
Confirmed speakers so far include Emily Brown, founder and CEO of Attane Health; Wendy Doyle, CEO of United WE; Andrew Clark, executive creative director of Sonos Inc.; and Tiffany Thompson, founding director of Petrichor Projects, Boots said.
Then the next day, the RVCC semifinalists are scheduled to pitch to a series of judges, with winners announced at 3:30 p.m. April 24. An estimated $180,000 is to be awarded across the five categories — four divisions for degree-seeking students at a college or university located in Missouri and its bordering states and one for non-student founders of Kansas City-based startups.
Applications — a five-minute video pitch — are due March 15.
Click here to apply.
For entrepreneurs already building in the community, $50,000 will be awarded — $20,000 for first, $15,000 for second, $10,000 for third, and $5,000 for fourth — as part of the James and Rae Block Kansas City Startup Awards.
Although every semifinalist who pitches to the judges will walk away with some money, Boots noted, the competition isn’t just about cash. The goal is to empower every entrepreneur’s next step, he said.
“We want every competitor who applies — and then everybody who is in the competition on the 24th — to have growth as an entrepreneur and as a person that they walk away with,” Boots explained. “The bigger takeaway, we hope, is that they get specific advice, feedback, new connections, new ideas for their business that they can put into practice immediately.”
To help with networking, this year competitors will participate in round-robin style judging in a cohort with two other competitors, he shared. The trio — each from different divisions — will travel together to different rooms, pitching to a series of judges.
“We’re hoping that with this little cohort model that they build some really useful, valuable, and long-lasting connections with other entrepreneurs,” Boots said. “And also, that they get some ideas for how founders are approaching their business in other sectors that they can apply to their own business.”
“That piece of it, I’m especially excited to see this year,” he added, “and hopefully it results in more value, in addition to the money, for the competitors.”
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