KC healthtech company earns ticket to Startup World Cup, shot at West Coast investor’s $1M

Win or lose, Nick Love is excited to keep spreading the word about his company’s injection medication delivery system to a whole new audience, the Love Lifesciences co-founder said Tuesday after earning a regional victory in the global Startup World Cup competition.

He advances to the Nov. 6 Silicon Valley grand finale event — giving Kansas-built Love Lifesciences a shot at the pitch event’s $1 million investment prize.

“This is incredible,” said Love. “Love Lifesciences is opening up a $4 million fundraiser round, so being able to expand our network out into the West Coast is going to be an incredible opportunity for us, regardless of if we win the million dollars.”

“This has just been an incredible opportunity to represent Kansas and Kansas City,” he added.

Dr. Brandy Archie, AskSAMIE, pitches her company at CPKC Stadium during Kansas City’s regional competition for the Startup World Cup; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

Love Lifesciences was one of 10 Kansas City startups that pitched to four judges during the regional competition Tuesday at CPKC Stadium, the home of the Kansas City Current.

“They really represent the best of what Kansas City has to offer in entrepreneurship and innovation in industries like healthcare, finance, workforce development, and education,” said Adam Larson, senior program coordinator for KCSourceLink, which is organizing the local leg of the tournament in partnership with Pegasus Tech Ventures, the Silicon Valley venture capital firm that coordinates Startup World Cup globally.

Allison Greenwood, chief impact and strategy officer for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, speaks during the regional Startup World Cup competition at CPKC Stadium; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

Local competitors all were focused on real problems facing people and families every day, observed Allison Greenwood, chief impact and strategy officer for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, one of the sponsors of the event.

“Instead of starting with tech, you started with a human-centered problem, and then figured how to leverage tech to address those problems,” she continued, “so that you’re increasing access to healthcare, improving workforce opportunities, improving educational opportunities, all in a way that’s very much aligned with how we think about our investments.”

Based out of KU Innovation Park in Lawrence, Love Lifescience — one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2024 — developed the UniPen, a versatile safety injection device designed for a wide range of self-administered injectable therapies, including such popular treatments as GLP-1 agonists, testosterone, and other injectables commonly produced by compounding pharmacies.

RELATED: Love Lifesciences testing its robotic fill system with KC pharma company to boost UNIPEN access

Nick Love, Love Lifesciences, pitches his company at CPKC Stadium during Kansas City’s regional competition for the Startup World Cup; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News

“Currently, we expect patients to dose out that medication and that is incredibly dangerous,” Love said during his pitch. “In fact, this has gotten so bad that the FDA has had to take action, releasing public warning orders about patients overdosing and becoming hospitalized because of this problem.”

“So where we find ourselves right now is this huge patient unmet need, particularly around safety, in this massive booming market,” he added. “And it turns out, Love Lifesciences’ flagship product is the only product that can actually solve this multi-billion-dollar problem.”

The Startup World Cup is the largest startup conference and pitch competition, drawing champion teams from more than 100 regions worldwide to compete for the grand prize.

“We see the Startup World Cup as an opportunity to share our regional story on a global stage and open doors for capital for our most innovative founders,” Larson said.

Support for Kansas City’s regional tournament include sponsorships from Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Missouri Technology Corporation, Keystone Innovation District, Digital Sandbox KC (Technology Venture Studio), KU Innovation Park, LaunchKC, eGrowth Ventures (Network Kansas), and KC Digital Drive.

Zaydan Ahmed, AcuSera

Dr. Brandy Archie, AskSAMIE

Melissa Footlick, Catalyst

Triumfia Houmbie Fulks, CodeAlgo

Matthew Leming, Enhance Health

Erin Minoski, KaBloom

Ashley McClellan, MedCurate

Jacob Schlittenhardt, Planetary Talent

Chad Brausen, Tolair

Kansas City’s other competitors included:

• AcuSera, Zaydan Ahmed — A wristband that detects stress in real time and responds with vibration therapy.
• AskSAMIE, Brandy Archie — A platform connecting people with occupational therapists and real-world solutions for safe living at home.
• Catalyst, Melissa Footlick — A prediction market trading challenge built on a single promise: the terms you agree to on day one are the terms you keep, all the way to the payout.
• CodeAlgo, Triumfia Houmbie Fulks — A computer gaming platform to teach coding skills to students in kindergarten through eighth grade, so they can develop their technology literacy and enter the workforce better prepared for STEM careers.
• Enhance Health, Matthew Leming — A healthcare platform delivering at-home monitoring and care workflows for liver disease, chronic kidney disease, and urea cycle disorders.
• KaBloom, Erin Minoski — An innovative online platform designed as a companion to pediatric speech therapy, making home programming strategies quick and effective for families.
• MedCurate, Ashley McClellan — A dual-sided marketplace that leverages technology to connect healthcare providers directly with organizations to fill extra shifts.
• Planetary Talent, Jacob Schlittenhardt — An accelerated hiring platform for fast growing companies and ambitious people.
• Tolair, Chad Brausen — A cross-stack intelligence platform for healthcare organizations that turns fragmented data into clarity, and clarity into results.