PlanetReuse Marketplace Selected for Wall Street Journal Contest

PlanetReuse Marketplace Selected for Wall Street Journal Contest

Media Contact:
Sarah Rendo
PlanetReuse Marketplace
816.686.2270
[email protected]

KANSAS CITY (July 1, 2013) – It’s time to get camera ready. PlanetReuse Marketplace, a Kansas City-based startup is in the running for the title of The Wall Street Journal’s Startup of the Year. The second week of voting kicked off today and the Kansas City community can help by voting at http://projects.wsj.com/soty/rankings.  

The five-month competition will put 24 promising startup companies through a series of intense tasks, providing mentorship and assisting with strategy along the way. It is designed to get the participants outside their comfort zones and prepare them for success. And the whole thing will be filmed and broadcast through the WSJ website. 

“It’s another chance to show the rest of the country the innovative, inspiring things going on in our city and region of the country,” said Nathan Benjamin, Founder and CEO of PlanetReuse Marketplace. “Obviously, the Wall Street Journal has a broad audience and the more attention, investment and talent we can bring to the area, the better. A rising tide lifts all boats and we’re proud to be a part of the wave of forward momentum.”

Benjamin and his team, who have created an online inventory marketing and managing platform for reused building materials, plan to use the documentary to highlight the building material reuse industry and the collective, creative energy of the Kansas City and Midwest Startup community.

“We are very excited about the mentorship aspect of the program,” said Jarrod Eyler, Chief Technology Officer. “As a startup company, learning from mentors is essential. To be able to pick the brain of Richard Branson, Steve Case or other WSJ mentors is an amazing opportunity. Their feedback, insight and advice can help avoid pitfalls and launch companies forward.”

The team has spent the last few weeks recording video, perfecting their pitch and getting ready for their online debut and tasks to come. The public can track the progress of the competition and view videos and blog posts from each startup. 

The Wall Street Journal launched the Startup of the Year Entrepreneur videos this morning.  PlanetReuse was featured on the homepage of the Wall Street Journal www.wsj.com as well on an individual startup page http://projects.wsj.com/soty/startup/planetreuse-marketplace, giving the company a national platform to represent the Midwest and publicize the importance of reuse.

If in the coming weeks and months, Kansas Citians see a camera crew around the Crossroads Arts District or Google Fiberhood, it may be the PlanetReuse Marketplace team. And if Richard Branson appears on the streets of Kansas City, chances are the PlanetReuse Marketplace team is having a very good day.

###

PlanetReuse Marketplace powered by InvenQuery works on the residential side of the design-build industry by providing online, real-time flow of inventories for non-profit and for-profit reuse organizations, demolition companies and contractors throughout North America to expedite the news of available materials to the general public, and to the design and construction community at large. PlanetReuse Marketplace allows non-profits to have direct access to industry-specific technology for limited cost. For more info, visit: www.planeteruse.com or call (816)-298-7947. Twitter: @PlanetReuseMrkt and @Planetreuse

Digital Sandbox KC is an unprecedented partnership among private companies, universities, entrepreneurial support organizations and government agencies across the Kansas City region designed to spur the creation of high growth companies.  Digital Sandbox KC provides proof of concept resources including market validation, prototyping and beta testing support for development of digital technologies within new and existing businesses. Initial funding came through a $1 million federal i6 Challenge Grant for a proof of concept center. 

The Sandbox was developed by KCSourceLink through the collaboration of partners such as: corporate (Sprint, Hallmark, UMB, VML, Cerner, RareWire, SparkLabKC), academic (UMKC, University of Kansas), nonprofit (Enterprise Center of Johnson County; Kansas City Area Life Sciences Institute; Union Station, Inc.; KCNext), public (Missouri Technology Corporation, Mayors’ Bistate Innovation Team, Economic Development Corp. of KC) and philanthropic (Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation).

Visit us at http://www.digitalsandboxkc.com/