Almost every semester, the AACE Venture Fund takes trips across the Midwest and beyond to attend conferences, connect with new entrepreneurs and start-up companies, and network with angel investors, venture capital firms, and accelerators. AACE has previously traveled to New York City, Salt Lake City, Chicago, Austin, San Francisco, Boston, San Diego, Kansas City, and St. Louis.
Fall 2021
Kansas City
In the Fall 2021 semester, the AACE Venture Fund traveled to both Kansas City and St. Louis. In Kansas City, the Fund listened to 10 pitches from promising start-up companies in the area hosted at the Kauffman Foundation and UMKC. The members of the Fund also met with Five Elms Capital and KC Rise and appeared in a featured article from Startland News.
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St. Louis
In November the Fund headed to St. Louis and met with two of our portfolio companies, Elemental Enzymes and Impetus Agriculture. AACE also heard 7 pitches over their time at T-Rex, Biogenerator, and The Yield Lab.
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Fall 2019
St. Louis
In October 2019, the AACE Fund traveled to St. Louis, MO to visit a series of accelerators and incubators in the downtown St. Louis area. The members of the fund toured Cortex Innovation Center and BioGenerator which gave them an up-close look at early-stage startup infrastructure. They heard pitches from 13 startups throughout their time at Cortex, T-Rex, and The Yield Lab. Through this trip, the AACE Fund was able to learn from entrepreneurs and other angel investors, including Arch Angels CEO and Chairman Brian Kinman.
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