Startups Stories

Aware Vehicles

Aware Vehicles accelerates pilot-free drone development thanks to IgniteX partnership with Black & Veatch

Drones are one step closer to becoming completely automated with the help of Aware Vehicles, a finalist in the IgniteX Accelerator.  The Kansas City-based tech startup focuses on non-human interaction for the flight, charge and data collection of drones, emphasized PJ Piper, CEO of Aware Vehicles and founder of QM Power.  “You get the eye…

Cyber Security Operation Center (CSOC)

Fishtech Group scales CYDERES, leaping into deep end of global cybersecurity market

National accolades and an expansion into Northwest Arkansas are feeding the latest round of rapid scaling at the Gary Fish-led Fishtech Group.  “Hitting the MSSP list for the first time at No. 25 is a huge honor and an endorsement of CYDERES’ position in the managed service market,” Eric Foster, CYDERES Chief Operating Officer, said…

Gary White, Water.org; courtesy of the Robert J. Trulaske, Sr. College of Business, University of Missouri

KC-based Water.org fills need with focus on poverty as a market to be served

When philanthropy is used to correct a market failure, there is potential for profit, said Gary White, co-founder and CEO of Water.org. “The poor should not necessarily be seen as a problem to be solved but a market to be served,” White told a recent crowd at the University of Missouri, highlighting the importance of…

Voting with cash: Meet the 8 Kansas City tech startups competing in the Pure Pitch Rally

The landsharks are circling and eight hungry tech founders are ready to sell their ideas at the fourth annual, invite-only Pure Pitch Rally, the early-stage funding platform announced Wednesday.  “In Kansas City, we have the business soul and hunger to help others — through both community crowdsourced giving and offering others a stepping stone to…

Lisa Bledsoe, Tea-Biotics Kombucha; and Hunter Dozier, the Kansas City Royals

Tea-Biotics opens ‘world’s-largest kombucha taproom’ with 32 flavors, Royals flare

The strength of Tea-Biotics’ new, world’s-largest kombucha taproom lies in its bold flavors — and a lot of them, said Lisa Bledsoe. “How good is fresh-pressed, organic blueberry? It’s great for you! It’s full of antioxidants,” said Bledsoe, founder of Tea-Biotics Kombucha, referencing just one of 32 variations on tap at the Olathe taproom. “How…