Minority-Led Stories
Emoji My City launches its hometown emoji keyboard with winks to iconic Kansas City
Kansas City scenes from the Kauffman Center to 18th and Vine. Winks to local trends and celebrities. A playful push puts whimsical KC in the mobile devices of hometown fans and visitors alike. And it comes courtesy of the team that helped rebrand Kansas City’s now-iconic logo in 2013. In the age of digital marketing,…
InnovateKC: City pivots to startup-in-residence program to leverage local tech ingenuity
A new administration equals a new spin on established ideas, Nia Richardson explained, previewing the launch of Kansas City’s InnovateKC program. “I literally had a 45-minute conversation with [former city innovation officer] Bob Bennett before he walked out the door. He sent me an email with some notes and I had to pick it up…
KC-tested GoGetter uses AI to bring back human interaction in hiring talent (minus the middleman)
As a software contractor at Cerner for two years, Naga Rayapati saw more than 40 percent of his paycheck go into the pockets of middlemen, he said. “While the contractor puts in their heart and soul working for the company, these ‘preferred vendors’ reap the benefits,” said Rayapati, referring to third parties in the hiring…
KCultivator Q&A: Tin Ho skewers failure, beetle larvae on path to building stronger founders
Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by Plexpod, a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes. Startup challenges aren’t limited to products and processes, said Tin Ho. “My…
War-torn Myanmar to North KC: Documentary gives taste of immigrant entrepreneur’s refugee journey
Kansas City’s culture is increasingly shifting to include and highlight immigrant entrepreneurship, said Danielle Lehman, though the true impact is still largely unappreciated. “I think there’s a disconnect between people who are enjoying the food [from immigrant-owned restaurants] and you’ll see a picture on instagram, but they never get to know the people that make…
