Minority-Led Stories

Luke Lim and Andrew Potter, Approach

2022 Startups to Watch: Approach scales with gym platform’s core pushing against rock-solid foundation

Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list, now in its seventh year recognizing founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2022’s companies. Click here to view the full…

Shekhar Gupta, MyANIML

2022 Startups to Watch: MyAnIML plans to save the bovine industry millions through AI facial analysis in cattle

Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list, now in its seventh year recognizing founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2022’s companies. Click here to view the full…

Jonaie Johnson, Interplay

2022 Startups to Watch: Interplay reimagines dog crating for the busy, but attentive, pet parent

Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list, now in its seventh year recognizing founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2022’s companies. Click here to view the full…

Michael Odupitan, Omni Circle Group; photo by @BriJoRaePusch-Zuniga

Topeka is building its own startup hub; a new group is pushing those left out from survival mode to creation

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. The…

Shelia Johnson, Gangsta Goodies Kitchen

Shelia Johnson wants a daytime TV slot; Her ‘Gangsta Goodies’ brand already has the recipe

Sacred is the kitchen of Shelia Johnson, an ambitious Kansas City matriarch-turned-food scene celebrity working to bring families and communities together one meal at a time.  “It has always been the heart of the home. The root of who we are culturally,” Johnson said, recalling her childhood and time spent with her mother in the…