Government Stories

With boost to $31M in funding, how will state agency power MO innovation? Check out its plan

Two months after Gov. Mike Parson and legislators bumped the Missouri Technology Corporation’s budget back into the double digits, the state-funded investment agency introduced its plan for implementing five new strategies designed to catalyze innovation and entrepreneurship in Missouri. Presented early this month at the Governor’s Conference on Economic Development, MTC released an execution roadmap…

DHS grant boosts more than federal agents’ safety — backing Kenzen’s high-growth expansion

A federal grant program dedicated to innovating new solutions to prevent crisis-level scenarios was a timely fit for Kenzen’s wearable, heat-sensing safety tech, said CEO Heidi Lehmann, detailing the Kansas City startup’s recent funding award and move into “high-growth mode.” Kenzen this summer received a $161,600 grant through the Department of Homeland Security’s Silicon Valley…

KC BizCare awarded $300K by Kauffman for small business census, new ESO accelerator

Entrepreneurial support organizations experience many of the same challenges faced by Kansas City’s small business community, stifling their effectiveness, Nia Richardson noted.  “This includes staffing and resource constraints, lack of business education and practical experience, and fragmented systems of support. Without addressing these structural and systemic constraints, enabling equitable and inclusive small business growth will…

U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg speaking at SXSW; photo by Channa Steinmetz/Startland News

Five KC-area projects get green light for $48.2M in federal funds to bolster supply chain, support racial equity, economic growth

A federal push to make U.S. transportation systems safer, as well as more accessible, affordable, and sustainable will boost a handful of Kansas City modernization projects — including two that would reconnect east-west communities within the metro, the nation’s top transportation official announced Thursday. Nearly $48.2 million in funding is slated for local planning and capital…

Mike Plunkett and John Thomson, PayIt

ROI from PayIt’s recent $90M investment displays value of MTC’s early support, agency says

Marquee successes for two Show Me state companies — including a massive funding round for one rapidly growing Kansas City govtech scaleup — show the value of Missouri Technology Corporation’s early stage investment programs, said state and agency officials Thursday. A key example, they touted: PayIt, a SaaS platform that simplifies interactions between government agencies and…