Startups Stories
‘Queer Eye’ hero paints an ‘inner circle’ for young Latino artists craving a creative outlet
Deanna Munoz’s childhood dream to become an artist — once faded and long forgotten — was revived years later by her 6-year-old daughter, said Munoz, founder of the Latino Arts Foundation. “I wanted to be a graphic designer, but I kind of got caught up in a lot of different things when I was young…
Two Missouri biology students just wanted an ‘A’ — ultimately they devised a treatment for Crohn’s Disease
Launching a biotech company based on a class project took the quest for an ‘A’ to a whole new level for two Missouri University of Science and Technology students — founders of Bionic Bowell. Prompted by professors to find a use for a special ion-interacting glass compound, Vanessa Mahan and Catherine Pollman devised an ingestible…
Inclusion Open funding helps Determination Incorporated reunite KCSourceLink alums
Within days of securing funding from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s Inclusion Open, Determination Incorporated is expanding its team, the nonprofit announced Wednesday. “We are so thankful to the Kauffman Foundation and excited to announce that Leslie Walton, an experienced entrepreneurial ecosystem builder in KC, is joining the team in support of our mission,” Johnny…
Kauffman Inclusion Open: Six KC grant winners ‘building an inclusive pathway to entrepreneurship’
Plans to educate, inspire, and assist entrepreneurs traditionally left out of small business conversations will ramp up for the Porter House KC — thanks to new support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s inaugural Inclusion Open. “We are so excited to be selected as one of this year’s grant recipients,” said Dan Smith, co-founder of the…
Natural fit: Ruby Jean’s opening new juicery inside busy Whole Foods
The fresh-pressed, multi-year deal to open a brick-and-mortar Ruby Jean’s Juicery inside a high-traffic Whole Foods location puts Chris Goode in a position to scale his clean concept even further beyond Kansas City, he said. “We’re in the healthy food space and Whole Foods has cornered that market pretty broadly. With its parent company now…
