Minority-Led Stories
A Bible parable helped connect vegan foods to Made in KC cafes; here’s how two sisters planted the seed
Now served at Made in KC cafes across the metro — from the brand’s popular marketplaces to the new Outta the Blue oasis and downtown trolley cafe — vegan goods from Mattie’s Foods arrive on plates thanks to growing hunger for more healthy options, as well as the wholesome ingredients of a community-built business. Between…
Serial tech entrepreneur, ecosystem builder develops app to help turn everyday purchases into charitable donations
Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial supporter of Startland News. This story was produced independently by Startland News’s nonprofit newsroom. Operating a nonprofit taught Quest Moffat that it’s easier to raise programming dollars than it is to raise operating dollars — and a lack of the latter brings unexpected stressors, he…
Why Nina Whitmore left Corporate America to fight fast fashion (The answer is pretty black and white)
When Nina Whitmore was in elementary school, she always wore culottes — flowy cropped pants that are now back in style. They were easiest for her mother to sew, even though Whitmore would have preferred to wear jeans like the other kids, she said. Her interest in fashion began as a tween, when she paged…
Firebrand Ventures closes $40M seed fund for ‘authentic’ founders in emerging communities; adds Leo Morton as advisor
A year after two prominent venture capital firms announced their merger, the consolidated Firebrand Ventures II is officially closed — reaching its $40 million target and having already invested in startups from Detroit, Seattle and Toronto. “Several years ago we raised our first funds — Boulder-based Blue Note Ventures and Kansas City-based Firebrand Ventures I —…
Grandview-based battery innovator — Evergy Ventures’ first investment — exiting to global power player
A Kansas City-area startup developing next-generation scalable lithium-ion battery storage systems for land, sea and air is being acquired by a global power management leader, the companies announced Monday. Financial terms of the transaction — through which Grandview-based Spear Power Systems will add its power and talent to Sensata Technologies — were not disclosed. The…
