Pipeline Innovators gala returns to in-person celebration of KC entrepreneurs

For the first time in two years, entrepreneurs from across the Midwest traded their Zoom conferencing garb for black-tie attire at the Pipeline Innovators 2022 Gala.

The gala was held Friday evening at The Abbott on 1901 Cherry St. in the Crossroads Arts District, honoring the Innovator of the Year from both the 2020 and 2021 classes, the 2022 Fellows class and the 2022 Pathfinder cohort.

The Pathfinder program targets underserved entrepreneurs who aren’t working on their companies full-time. The entrepreneurs share a common thread: their companies are scalable. Pipeline Executive Director Melissa Vincent consulted with Daniel Smith, co-founder of The Porter House KC, and Kira Hopkins, founder of Entrepreneur Business Basics, to create the program, which is new this year.

Vincent said in January that she wanted to ensure that Pathfinder was filling real gaps and building a continuum of resources for entrepreneurs, and that the Pathfinders will be able to learn from the past mistakes of the Pipeline fellows and use that knowledge to scale faster.

Both the Pathfinder and traditional Pipeline fellows will be able to collaborate throughout the year and team up for mental resilience workshops. Pathfinder’s goal is to help entrepreneurs transition to working on their businesses full-time by the end of the program. 

The awardees

Jason Tatge, the founder of Leawood-based Farmobile, won the first-ever Mike Bosch Resilience Award, named after the founder of RG Fiber and a longtime Pipeline Entrepreneur. Bosch died in April shortly after the company was sold to Savannah, Georgia-based Clearwave Fiber.

Farmobile pairs consulting services with data analytics, helping agriculture retailers track aspects such as idle and transport time and whether an individual piece of equipment is nearing the mileage allotment on its lease.

A.J. Mellott of Olathe-based startup Ronawk LLC won the 2020 Innovator of the Year award, and Parker Graham of Overland Park-based startup Finotta won the 2021 Innovator of the Year.

Ronawk is a life sciences company that developed the Bio-Block platform, which includes different substrates that easily connect to one another like Legos and enable cells to grow in a 3D format. Bio-Block eliminates the need for subculturing and allows scientists to rapidly grow cells while using less cell culture media.

Finotta developed technology to revamp a financial institution's mobile app with personalized customer experiences. The startup's software uses algorithms to analyze a customer’s financial lifestyle, such as where money is spent, and predict what that customer will need moving forward. The app then can promote financial services that fit those needs.

From the 2021 class, Beth Handrigan of Chesterfield, Missouri-based Lean Media won the Member Growth Award; Maria Flynn of Kansas City-based consulting company Ambiologix won the Member Inspiration Award; and Clarence Tan of Tulsa, Oklahoma-based ed tech startup Boddle Learning won Best Pitch.

New classes announced

The 2022 Pipeline fellows are: 

Kansas City-area entrepreneurs secured 10 of the 13 Pipeline fellows spots this year, in industries ranging from biotech to cybersecurity to marketing. The yearlong business development program targeted high-performing entrepreneurs and provides workshops, mentorship and networking among Pipeline members.  

The 2022 Pipeline Pathfinder entrepreneurs are: