News Stories

‘Happy we don’t have to leave’ Little Hoots’ $450K raise will keep KC home

Once on the verge of departing its hometown, Kansas City-based Little Hoots recently raised funds to boost development of its app, allowing the startup to remain in the City of Fountains. Led by CEO Lacey Ellis, Little Hoots’ memory-keeping app struggled to find traction with Kansas City area investors, which nearly forced the company to…

Funding roundtable: ‘You can’t fake it’ and more funding advice from KC founders

Your company is steadily growing, but it looks like you’re nearing a plateau. Perhaps your startup is doing just fine, but a well-heeled competitor just entered your market and slapped a target on your customers. Or maybe you’ve got a solid idea but little dough to get it off the ground. Regardless of the case,…

Techstars firms to spread local roots via Brad Feld’s Kansas City home

More graduates of the Techstars-led Sprint Mobile Accelerator may be calling Kansas City home thanks to venture capitalist Brad Feld. Feld, co-founder of the international accelerator program Techstars, is making his Kansas City, Kan. home available to graduates of the local Techstars program rent free. “I’m very happy with how things have gone to date,”…

Kansas City dishes on diversity in the entrepreneurial community

It’s often said that two heads are better than one. But what if those two “heads” have the same socioeconomic, gender and racial compositions? What if their life experiences mirror one another so closely that they arrive at the same conclusions or generate the same general ideas? It’s no secret that diversity can foster the…

Funding roundtable (part II): Entrepreneurs compare KC investment scene to other cities

Welcome back to part two of our roundtable discussion on the early-stage investment sector in Kansas City. For a more formal introduction on this series and its five participants, please refer to part one on Kansas City’s investment culture and evolving economy. Check out the third and final installment of the series with the entrepreneurs’ advice for…