Leaders of Lawrence’s 1 Million Cups gatherings stress that their weekly meetings aren’t just another networking hour and that the presenters they invite aren’t just any new businesses.

“There has got to be some innovation aspect to it,” said Suman Saripalli, one of five community organizers for the group, himself an entrepreneur and owner of Kalscott Engineering, a research and development startup focusing on drones. “There’s got to be something that’s unusual.”

The local 1 Million Cups initiative has been meeting about a year and a half, since August 2013, every Wednesday morning at the Cider Gallery in the Warehouse Arts District. It’s one of 50 chapters nationwide of the entrepreneurship engagement effort of the same name started by the Kansas City, Mo.-based Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation.

Drs. Amelia and Jeremy Rodrock of Baldwin present their meal delivery startup Optimal Living on Feb 18, 2015, during a 1 Million Cups event at the Cider Gallery. Photo contributed by 1 Million Cups Lawrence.

The meetings have been an opportunity for Lawrence and regional entrepreneurs to share what they’re doing, get feedback from attendees and, simply, talk over coffee about their ideas and progress.

That “dreamer aspect” — the thought that startups have potential to become the next big thing — can be especially energizing, said Joseph Jarvis of Tallgrass Legal, another community organizer.

Entrepreneurs can apply to present, and organizers vet applicants as well as seek out presenters they think would add to the conversation in Lawrence. They are mostly fledgling businesses less than a few years old, ranging from Kansas University students in the concept phase to established businesses that are starting to grow.

The meetings attract roughly 40 people a week, many regulars and other infrequent visitors, organizers said. They said people seem to like the organic nature of the meetings — it’s not a club requiring membership, anyone can just show up (though it’s a bonus if you RSVP on the Lawrence 1 Million Cups website, 1millioncups.com/lawrence).

Of course networking takes place, organizers said. Entrepreneurs have found clients and clients have met service providers.

But one of the key things that sets apart presenters is that many of the businesses are “disruptive” of typical business models, Jarvis said.

One example is Lawrence resident and founder of Bixy, Kyle Johnson. Johnson, 32, a KU engineering graduate, started working on Bixy.com about three years ago. It’s actually an advertising business whose slogan and online hashtag is #AdsSuck.

Johnson said Bixy aims to fix them by applying “consumer controlled advertising,” which connects people with ads for things they may actually be interested in without “creepy” click tracking. Lawrence is the company’s beta market, he said, and local businesses here are among his participants.

“Startups need to tell their stories to the community and also get feedback,” Johnson said. “I think 1 Million Cups is a perfect vehicle to do that.”