Startups Stories

Wendy Guillies, Kauffman Foundation

Show ’em KC hustle! 1 Million Cups needs you to beat Fargo (Video)

Nice shirts. Clever designs. The perfect mix of whimsy and irreverent wordplay. They’d fit in well among the Kansas City apparel scene. Except for one glaring snag: They’re brewed in Fargo. Yeah. That Fargo. And if you don’t want to see them on the backs of KC’s 1 Million Cups team, you’ll make plans to…

Meet Techweek KC’s 2017 LaunchKC winners

After evaluating a lineup of 19 tech startups from across the country, judges awarded eight companies each a $50,000 LaunchKC grant — and one received a grand prize of $100,000. The popular grants contest awarded the non-dilutive grants following the live pitch competition at Techweek Kansas City. In its third year in the City of Fountains,…

Techweek’s future of transportation: ‘Don’t let anything stop you from starting’

Transportation and mobility technology are good examples of the hidden talents of the Kansas City tech community, Darcy Howe said “We have many more mobility companies in Kansas City than you might think, which is a pleasure,” said Howe, KCRise Fund managing director, moderating Wednesday’s Techweek panel. Discussing cars, trucks, roadways and the future of…

1 Million Cups embarks on huge national expansion effort

The entrepreneurial events series 1 Million Cups — a national program born in Kansas City and grown by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation — has set the ambitious goal to expand to 500 communities by the end of 2018. “We’re looking forward to keeping the magic that we’ve already created with 1 Million Cups on…

Chris Goode, Ruby Jean's Kitchen and Juicery

Wonder no more: Ruby Jean’s taking juice to Troost

Thirty years after Chris Goode’s grandmother helped drop him off for daycare at Operation Breakthrough on Troost Avenue, the entrepreneur is expanding the juicery that bears her name — Ruby Jean’s — to a site less than a block away. “It’s crazy how life comes full circle,” said Goode, Ruby Jean’s Juicery founder. “I’m 33 now…