News Stories

Alex Krause Matlack, Sit Foundry

Sit Foundry takes a stand for ‘lost art’ of upholstery amid fast furniture’s climate threat

Alex Krause Matlack is bringing what she teaches in the classroom to Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem as she pursues Sit Foundry — an all-inclusive reupholstery design studio.  “In the first week of my Intro to Entrepreneurship class, I tell my students to go out into the world and take notice of the problems they face….

De-risking a dangerous job: How a window washing startup is raising the bar (and hose) with drones

It’s a nightmare to clean the windows of multi-story buildings, said Andrew Brain. “It’s incredibly unsafe for folks to be hanging on the side of buildings — and it’s incredibly expensive for them to be there. Insurance liability has gone up 300 to 400 percent. … I was thinking that there’s got to be a…

Callie England

Callie England’s latest venture has no name or website; When odds are you’ll die next week, you learn to prioritize, she says

Sometimes hypothetical questions become all too real, said Callie England, a serial entrepreneur who frequently posed a speculative query to herself and clients: “If you were going to die next week, what decisions would you make?”  It was a question she was forced to answer honestly in July 2021, when the veteran Kansas City startup…

Wingman Kitchen

Wingman’s twice-fried chicken flies south, finding its sweet spot in Johnson County

A pandemic-battered, Westport fried chicken restaurant is on the move, chasing new opportunities in Overland Park and frying up a second chance that could be the secret ingredient to franchise expansion, its owner said.  “Wingman is the food provider for the entire district,” said Duane Jordan, owner of a Wingman Kitchen franchise, detailing the restaurant’s…

Students hope to make KU the ‘premier blockchain university’; Here’s how startups can help

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. LAWRENCE…