News Stories

New Kauffman indicators point to more fertile ground for startups on Missouri side of state line

A new analysis of early-stage entrepreneurship over the past 20 years indicates a more welcoming environment for fostering startups has developed in the Show Me State. In a state-by-state breakdown released Thursday by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Missouri outperformed Kansas across the board. Overall, Missouri’s scores showed climbing measures of entrepreneurship, while Kansas saw…

Brandon O’Dell, Friend That Cooks

Friend That Cooks in-home personal chefs bake healthful cooking into families’ diets

Champagne wishes and caviar dreams be damned, Brandon O’Dell quipped. Personal chefs are no longer a luxurious perk of the nation’s one-percent — all thanks to Kansas City-served startup Friend That Cooks. And as the market grows, so too does the repertoire of chefs at O’Dell’s startup, a weekly in-home meal prep service now operating…

Spicy Broccoli and Chicken Stir-Fry with Jasmine Rice, Happy Food Co.

Happy Food Co. modifies meal kit options to fit paleo, keto, Whole 30, vegan lifestyles

If a company wants to create change, its leaders have to be unafraid of emerging trends, Jen Trompeter said as Happy Food Co. serves up a strategy that could help the company cook up new business with modified meal kits. “People are doing keto or they’re doing Whole 30,” Trompeter, said. “We have some [meal…

Meg Tomlinson, Nick Wehrle and Greg Blome, Omega Power Creamer

Omega Power Creamer founders turn keto craze into a million-dollar idea

If it weren’t for the failure of a St. Louis tech startup where two friends found themselves working after college, their Kansas City-headquartered company might not exist today, pondered Greg Blome. “It kind of fell through and we were looking at [our idea] … we were trying for a long time to figure out a…

Sporting KC, FanThreeSixty

Sporting KC teams with FanThreeSixty on new app for enhanced matchday experiences

Kansas City’s vaunted MLS club scored a win even before its season begins Thursday, Sporting KC said, announcing this week a new official team app that taps the tech expertise of KC-based FanThreeSixty. Available now in the App Store and on Google Play, the platform leverages FanThreeSixty’s fan engagement software and analytics processes to offer…