Startups Stories
LaunchKC reveals 2017 finalists for $500K grant pool
LaunchKC on Friday announced 20 finalists vying for $500,000 in grants. The popular grants contest will award eight startups each a $50,000 non-dilutive grant and one firm a grand prize of $100,000 after a live pitch competition at Techweek Kansas City on Sept. 15. Techweek Kansas City is scheduled from Sept. 11 to Sept. 15…
Overland Park startup nabs $100K from Steve Harvey’s ABC show
As if the national exposure wasn’t enough, local entrepreneur Hilary Philgreen walked away from “Steve Harvey’s Funderdome” on ABC with a $100,000 prize. The show, which aired Sunday, allows inventors to compete for cash to help accelerate their businesses. Overland Park-based StinkBOSS is a solution for everyday odor, eliminating bacteria using ozone technology. Designed for…
Jobs alert: 5 Techstars firms now hiring in Kansas City
Less than halfway through Techstars’ three-month program, five startup companies in the class are hiring. The program’s first annual cohort — which included 10 startups — spent the first month meeting nearly 100 mentors and investors. Following the feedback, half of the class is ready to scale and hire more people, said Techstars managing director Lesa Mitchell….
Techstars Spotlight: Startup hopes to bridge teacher-school gap
Matching best-fit teachers to school districts can be challenging, Michael Barnes said. Serving nearly three years as a district talent manager at Austin Achieve public schools, in Austin, Texas, Barnes felt a lot of pressure to make the right decisions for students. “Oftentimes I would stay up until 2 a.m., wishing I had better teachers…
Report: KC startups driving quality job creation across metro
Young Kansas City businesses are substantial job creators for the area, according to a recent report from entrepreneurial resource hub KCSourceLink. In its recent “We Create Jobs” report, KCSourceLink found that new firms that employed fewer than 20 workers created 16,325 new jobs in 2016. And for the past five years, startups created an average…
