Minority-Led Stories
Black Pantry expands nationally through online shop; founder works to set new standard for buying Black
Kansas City’s premier boutique for Black-owned essentials always had its sights set on building a national identity, said Brian Roberts, but he needed to prove himself and his business on the local level first. “A lot of people were pushing me in the beginning to go the website direction, but I didn’t want to do…
LaunchKC finalists: Meet 13 tech startups vying for six $50K grants in rebooted competition
A revived LaunchKC grants competition is set to return in mid-November with more than a dozen companies vying for $300,000 in non-dilutive funding. Finalists were announced Friday. The 13 Kansas City companies selected to compete Nov. 15 were narrowed from more than 90 applicants, said Becca Castro, strategic initiatives manager at the Economic Development Corporation…
KC firm invests $56M in LGTB+ owned 10KC to reimagine a more inclusive workplace (that employees won’t want to leave)
A funding infusion from a leading Kansas City venture capital firm comes at a critical time as employees struggle to connect in a hybrid work world, said Ten Thousand Coffees (10KC), announcing its first institutional raise since the company’s 2014 formation in Toronto. Originally bootstrapped, 10KC will use the $56 million investment from Five Elms…
Boulevard, Vine Street hop to ‘inspire our city’ with a brew in honor of KC baseball icon Buck O’Neil
A new ale crafted in collaboration between one of Kansas City’s biggest brands and the city’s first Black-owned brewery is expected to commemorate “a true American treasure,” said Kemet Coleman — as well as send 100 percent of its proceeds to the Negro Leagues Baseball Museum. The Buck O’Neil Barrel-Aged Saison honors the late first…
Just funded: Big ‘Pure Pitch’ winners swim with the sharks, earn thousands in cash on the spot
A winning afternoon at the Pure Pitch Rally is validation Dr. Brandy Archie’s healthtech accessibility app is providing connections people actually need, she said. “That’s the most important thing to me,” said Archie, founder of AskSAMIE. “The funds are going to a good cause, but this lets me know that this new idea that I…
