SparkLabKC is ready to plug in with the 11 early-stage startups—all from Kansas City—it chose for its inaugural class.

The accelerator last Thursday announced The Briefcase, FolioMatch, Knoda, Prodigy Arcade, NeighborsGrow (Rockhill Strategic), Innovative Health Media, VolunteerMark, FormZapper, Your Adoption Finance Coach, Ante Meridiem and FanAddict will start the program May 29 in a building across from Union Station.

Kevin Fryer, the program’s managing director, on Monday told Silicon Prairie News the accelerator focused on companies that fit well in the region’s landscape when narrowing selections down from 38 applications.

“We wanted to choose companies relevant to the Kansas City economy,” he said, pointing to industries such as telecommunications, health care and engineering.

SparkLabKC participants will have access to more than 100 mentors—Fryer (right) said they will be able to pick 15-20 for closer interaction—to help them navigate the 90-day, in-residence program. The first month will be spent on business and product strategy, followed by prototype development in month two and refining the pitch in month three. The program concludes with a demo day August 23.

Participants will receive seed capital up to $18,000 (for up to 6 percent equity), free work space and legal, accounting, financial and human resources advisory services. They also have access to a number of public and private partners of the accelerator, including Polsinelli, Missouri Bank, KCnext and the University of Missouri-Kansas City Innovation Center.

Here’s a look at the 11 SparkLabKC companies (descriptions from each startup’s website):

	Briefcase – Briefcase provides a real-time push notification resource to career seekers on the go, while keeping track of the entire process from start to finish and beyond.
	FolioMatch (formerly FolioBoy) – FolioMatch is a free public platform for students and professionals to post their research, contributions and experience so they are seen and heard by the best schools and employers worldwide.
	Knoda – Our concept is simple: Take predictions. Allow social interaction. Score predictions. Rate and rank predictors.
	Prodigy Arcade – Web-based academy for kids age 8 to 14 to learn the basic principles of programming through engaging games and interactive environments.
	NeighborsGrow (by Rockhill Strategic) – A social way to promote growing communities through home gardening.
	Innovative Health Media – We provide health care materials to individuals and physicians to help improve communication between patients and their providers and organize health care-related materials.
	VolunteerMark – An online community of volunteers that lets you keep track of your volunteering experience, earn rewards, create and track service hour and donation goals, share your ideas to improve the community and connect with other volunteers.
	FormZapper – We help people put forms and paperwork online. Let customers, patients and vendors fill them out, store them and share them with others. We manage your paperwork for you, so you can spend your time doing more important things.
	Your Adoption Finance Coach – An interactive community of adoptive families and agencies participating in on-demand webinars such as planning special events, adoption budgeting, grant writing and more.
	Ante Meridiem – We are specifically passionate about creating partnerships in the Kansas City entrepreneurial world and slowing down mornings with treasured community and locally made craft jam to complement the fresh opportunities that the morning offers.
	FanAddict – A destination and discovery platform that allows fans to track, discover and participate in the music and live events of their favorite and similar bands, locally and globally.

For more on SparkLabKC, see our post: “SparkLabKC emerges in Kansas City to help early-stage internet startups“.

Credits: Kevin Fryer photo courtesy of SparkLabKC.