Funding Stories

Weedbot 2.0 by Greenfield Robotics

This new agrobot could be the future of farming: chemical-free and swarming in a field near you

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. Harvesting…

David Biga, Particle Space; Shelley Cooper, Diversity TeleHealth; Tyler Bolz and Will Strout, DataSource; and Nikil Ragav, inventXYZ

11 emerging KC startups hit the road for Omaha pitch; one winner drives home with $25K

Editor’s note: Husch Blackwell is a financial sponsor of Startland News, though this report was produced independently by the nonprofit newsroom. More than a third of competitors at the coming Get Started Omaha premier pitch event are expected to represent Kansas City innovation on stage April 6 — vying for $25,000 in prize money against…

Steve Radley, NetWork Kansas

NetWork Kansas gets $3M Kauffman boost to build inclusive ecosystems across state

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. WICHITA…

2018 LaunchKC winners

LaunchKC grants competition gets boost toward relaunch with newly announced funding, MTC says

A popular grants competition that helped raise the profiles — and buoy the bank accounts — of dozens of Kansas City startups could be relaunching with renewed funding from the Missouri Technology Corporation, the agency announced Tuesday. LaunchKC was named one of seven organizations to together receive more than $1 million in grant funding to support…

Kansas City, Missouri, street and infrastructure improvements; photo courtesy of KCMO

Invest in small biz infrastructure, group urges city; They want $11M in KCMO budget for entrepreneur funding

Three years of working and waiting might be headed to an impasse for entrepreneur support advocates who’ve been lobbying the City of Kansas City, Missouri, for renewed — and dramatically enhanced — funding to boost startups and small businesses battered by the pandemic. “Everywhere we go, we’re asked ‘Kansas City is supposed to be the…