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Less than 10 weeks after successfully completing its first Rise of the Rest Road Trip, Revolution, in partnership with UP Global, Google for Entrepreneurs, Engine Advocacy, Startup Grind and Cedar Rapids’ Seed Here Studio announced today the launch of a second to come in early October. Spearheaded by Revolution’s CEO Steve Case, the tour will seek to shine light on Midwest entrepreneurial communities by hosting a day of events centered around the cities’ startups.
The tour will launch in Madison on October 6 before making its way through Minneapolis, Des Moines (hosted at Gravitate) and Kansas City, ending in St. Louis on October 10. Each stop along the route will feature:
• A startup tour, visiting promising growth companies, accelerators and incubators
• Fireside chats moderated by The Atlantic’s Washington editor-at-large Steve Clemons,
featuring Steve Case and other entrepreneurial luminaries
• Local startups pitching a panel of all-star judges, with $100K at stake
• Celebration and networking for local entrepreneurs
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Big Kansas City will host the bulk of the October 9 festivities, with the event opening its doors to Case and crew at the latter end of Big KC’s day two. After making stops at KC Startup Village, Sprint Accelerator, Think Big Partners and more, the AOL co-founder will take the stage at the National Airline History Museum’s Hangar 9 for a fireside chat. Directly following the talk will be the launch of the pitch competition, where one winner will earn a $100,000 investment in their company.
“The mission of the Rise of the Rest Road Trip and Big Kansas City are in large part a reflection of each other,” said Silicon Prairie News CEO Regan Carrizales. “We’re thrilled to collaborate with a partner who also seeks to celebrate and invest in the great minds of our region.”
More information on the Rise of the Rest Road Tour, including pitch applications, times and locations for specific events in each city, is available at www.riseoftherest.com. Follow #riseofrest on Twitter and Instagram to stay up to date, as well.
For information about Big Kansas City 2014 and to purchase tickets, visit bigkansascity.co.
Credits: Image courtesy of Revolution
4 responses to “Steve Case talk and $100K pitch competition added to Big KC lineup”
Very cool. Great addition.
Does anyone know if a Big KC ticket is required to attend the Rise of the Rest events (fireside chat, pitch comp and networking) at the airline museum? It doesn’t say so on the Rise of the Rest RSVP page: https://www.eventfarm.com/event/7fff5387-0000-453f-a797-391137d3a757
Hey Matthew – to guarantee a seat and experience the rest of the conference you will want to snag a ticket, but not officially required.
[…] Rise of the Rest, the road trip celebrating entrepreneurship in all corners of America, will come to Iowa Oct. 8 as part of it’s second tour. The events are led by Steve Case, the former co-founder of AOL and current chairman and CEO of Revolution, who will personally invest in a new startup in each city he visits. Seed Here Studio produces the tour. Read more: Seed Here Studio teams up with Steve Case for ‘Rise of the Rest’ road trip (initial announcement), Start-ups pave roads beyond Silicon Valley (op-ed by Case in USA Today); announcement coverage in the Des Moines Register and Silicon Prairie News. […]