From 200 applicants… to ten finalists… come four startups awarded $50,000 in non-dilutive cash with the requirement that they relocate to Cape Girardeau, home of CodeFi and the 1st50K startup accelerator.
The 2021 cohort:
- Food Haven – (San Francisco, CA) A surplus food marketplace connecting restaurants with eaters.
- RentHub – (New York, NY) A data platform for rental housing industry.
- WATT (Los Angeles, CA) Platform for virtual charity walk/run events.
- STOCKHAUS – (Cape Girardeau) Digital wholesaler app.
1ST50K is a partnership of Codefi with the Missouri Technology Corporation, and is supported by other public and private entities (banks, chambers, city government). In the Spring of 2020, MTC selected 1ST50K as an award recipient for their highly competitive grant competition, Missouri Building Entrepreneurial Capacity. The award is matched dollar for dollar by local, private donations to support the project, and the award provides a regional focus to 1ST50K as well as support to launch 1ST50K in partnership with Southeast Missouri State University.
1ST50K generally awards one or two companies a year, but broke with tradition in 2020 when it invested in four startups: Venku, SportsTrace, Swipesum and Upswot.
In addition to the $50K, startups receive membership in the Codefi co-working space and technology incubator, business coaching, mentorship, and introduction to venture capital and angel investment networks. All four finalists will have to relocate to Cape Girardeau as part of the 1ST50K program.
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