Minority-Led Stories

Riddhiman Das, TripleBlind

Mayo Clinic partnership proves TripleBlind’s privacy tech can be applied to healthcare, co-founder says

A new partnership with Mayo Clinic will put Kansas City-stored TripleBlind’s data privacy promise to the test.  “We hope to demonstrate the potential of applying TripleBlind’s data privacy and data clean room solution to accelerate how we develop, test, and deploy AI solutions in healthcare, particularly amidst heavily regulated privacy concerns,” Riddhiman Das, co-founder and…

Valentine Osakwe and Zerryn Gines, Peep Connect

How challenging norms could be Black founders’ key to overcoming lingering funding gap

When authenticity and startup culture collide, Black founders and entrepreneurs of color often don’t see the same opportunities as their white counterparts, said Daniel Smith, contributing to a gap in funding that splits along racial lines. “I talk a certain way; I have different mannerisms; I like to dress a certain kind of way —…

Joshua Lewis, UpDown Nightlife

UpDown Nightlife set to relaunch app; secures lead investor for $500K seed round 

When COVID-19 turned out the lights on nightlife in 2020, Joshua Lewis didn’t go into panic mode, he said. The persistent founder used the time to flesh out his app’s tech platform — and in the process found a key funder for UpDown Nightlife. “This is our first real round of funding where we’re able to…

Dr. Allison Edwards and Jay Austin

Rethinking healthcare: How a doctor and activist brought more than 5,000 COVID-19 tests to KC’s most vulnerable

A primary care physician with an innovative take on healthcare and a passionate activist with an extensive background in video production might seem like an unlikely duo, said Dr. Allison Edwards. But she and serial creative Jay Austin united their strengths during the pandemic to help underserved communities in Kansas City gain access to critical…

Patrice Aguilera, My Sister’s Closet

Patrice Aguilera carves niche on Facebook Live, teaching fellow entrepreneurs to break their own barriers

Editor’s note: This article is underwritten by Plexpod — a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes — but was independently produced by Startland News. Hand-me-downs were both a blessing and a curse for Patrice Aguilera, she said. Growing up as the youngest and tallest of six sisters,…