The showcase will feature 25 Kansas founders whose innovations were supported through the ACCEL-KS program at Groover Labs — a statewide initiative designed to accelerate high-potential ideas from concept toward commercialization while strengthening Kansas’ entrepreneurial and innovation ecosystem and delivered in partnership with Groover Labs and the KU Innovation Park.

Launched in July 2025 under the Innovation pillar of the Kansas Framework for Growth, ACCEL-KS represents one of the state’s most intentional efforts to expand innovation capacity, support startup formation, and increase commercialization opportunities across both urban and rural Kansas.

Over the course of its first year, Groover Labs’ efforts engaged entrepreneurs from across the state, resulted in nearly 70 applications spanning multiple sectors and regions. Through a competitive review process, 25 founders ultimately received grants ranging from $5,000 to $25,000 to advance prototype development, commercialization readiness, and market validation activities.

The initiative exceeded several of its strategic objectives, including its rural engagement goals. Rural founders represented 42 percent of all applicants and 38 percent of awarded recipients - surpassing the program’s original 30 percent rural participation target and reinforcing the depth of entrepreneurial potential emerging across Kansas communities.

Beyond funding, ACCEL-KS connected founders with a broad network of ecosystem partners and technical experts to help accelerate business development and commercialization outcomes. Program participants engaged with organizations including NXTUS, Wichita State University Office of Tech Transfer and Commercialization, WSU College of Engineering Project Innovation Hub, Defense Innovation OnRamp Hub: Kansas, Kansas State University Technology Development Institute, and Groover Labs’ CAMPFIRE program. Founders also received specialized support in software engineering, artificial intelligence, product-market fit development, and go-to-market strategy.

The June 11 Startup Showcase will feature remarks from Romaine Redman, Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer for the Kansas Department of Commerce, and Tracy Hoover, co-founder of Groover Labs. The program will also include the premiere of professionally produced founder spotlight videos by Malibu Creative featuring several funded projects. During the closing reception, attendees will have the opportunity to meet founders, experience demonstrations of emerging technologies and prototypes, and engage directly with innovators helping shape Kansas’ future economy.

“The first year of ACCEL-KS demonstrated what is possible when the state intentionally invests in innovation, entrepreneurship, and commercialization capacity across Kansas,” said Romaine Redman, Chief Innovation and Strategy Officer for the Kansas Department of Commerce. “This program successfully activated founders, strengthened ecosystem collaboration, expanded rural innovation engagement, and helped move promising ideas closer to market. Groover Labs and our ecosystem partners did an exceptional job delivering this initiative and supporting entrepreneurs throughout the process.

“We congratulate every founder who applied to the program — both those selected for funding and those who were not. The quality, ambition, and creativity demonstrated through the applicant pool reinforced that Kansas possesses extraordinary entrepreneurial talent across every region of the state. ACCEL-KS is only the beginning of a much larger effort to build a nationally competitive innovation economy, and we are excited about the momentum, partnerships, and opportunities that will continue emerging from this work in the years ahead.”

“The ACCEL-KS Proof-of-Concept Grant Program aligned with what we’ve been building at Groover Labs over the past six years,” said Tracy Hoover. “We worked with partners across the Kansas startup ecosystem to create and deliver the programming, consulting, and funding Kansans needed to transform their ideas into working prototypes. The question behind ACCEL-KS was simple: will Kansas founders show up if the state and ecosystem leaders support them? At the Startup Showcase, attendees will see that the answer is a resounding yes.”

The ACCEL-KS Startup Showcase is open to ecosystem partners, founders, investors, economic development leaders, educators, and community stakeholders interested in the continued growth of Kansas’ innovation economy.

Groover Labs is a 42,000-square-foot nonprofit technology hub in Wichita’s historic Old Town, serving more than 240 member organizations across coworking, hardware prototyping, and technology startup programming, since its opening in 2020. ACCEL-KS is a program of the Kansas Department of Commerce, in partnership with Groover Labs and KU Innovation Park. 

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