WBC and CAPS host InnovateHER Challenge - blooom selected as winner (Press Release)

The Blue Valley Center for Advanced Professional Studies (CAPS) and the Women’s Business Center served as local co-hosts for InnovateHER: 2015 Innovating for Women Business Challenge. Sponsored and supported by the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), InnovateHER addresses the needs of women and the role they play in America’s economy.

The local InnovateHER competition drew more than 20 applicants. Each entrepreneur had created a product or service that would have a measurable impact on women and their families, fills a need in the marketplace, and has the potential for commercialization.

The winner for the Kansas City 2015 InnovateHER competition is blooom. Blooom will advance to the semi-final round of competition in Washington, DC. Blooom is a low-cost, online 401k management tool. Unlike other online 401k management tools, blooom quickly analyzes the health of a current 401k plan at no cost and provides the option to outsource the management of that account to blooom. The company developed a proprietary app that will review and rebalance their client's 401k plans to continuously maximize the growth of their plan. They are the first 401k management company to manage the client's 401k as opposed to simply providing advice. 

While this type of a product benefits anyone with a 401k plan, blooom has identified a unique opportunity to better serve women.  Blooom knows that 401k plans will be the main source of retirement funds for most Americans. In fact, there are 88 million people who currently have a 401k account. On average, women have 40% less in their 401k account than their male counterparts. Blooom's goal is to help women to better manage those accounts to help them more quickly grow the balance in their account. Women typically outlive men and, therefore, need a larger fund balance to support them throughout their entirety of their retirement.

A selection committee narrowed the field of applicants to seven finalists who were invited to pitch their concepts at CAPS on Thursday, March 26, 2015. Panelists for the pitch competition included CAPS students Gabi Cabell, Chloe Davis, Jenna Felson, Hannah Holland, Courtney Long, and Stephanie Yowell, along with Kelly Pruneau from the Women’s Capital Connection and Melissa Roberts from the Enterprise Center of Johnson County.

“Hosting the 2015 InnovateHER competition provided our own student innovators an opportunity to network with and critique their adult counterparts,” states Corey Mohn, Executive Director of the Blue Valley CAPS program. “It was an honor to open our building to the event and partner with a tremendous resource partner in the Women’s Business Center.”

“The InnovateHer competition has allowed the Women's Business Center to highlight the economic impact of women in the United States, not just as consumers but as entrepreneurs and innovators,” asserts Brande Stitt, Program Director for the Women’s Business Center. “The opportunity to partner with Blue Valley CAPS has enhances our mission to inspire the next generation of female entrepreneurs.”

Blooom is now entered into the InnovateHER national semi-final round. If selected as a national finalist, blooom will be invited to Washington, DC to pitch for a cash prize.