Woman-led Stories

Liza Thomas and Brian Thomas, Coruzant Technologies

Fund Me, KC: Overland Park couple takes on TechCrunch with women-focused digital tech publication

Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs — like Liza and Brian Thomas whose campaign supports funding the digital publication Coruzant Technologies — to share their crowdfunding stories in a simple…

Colleen Monroe, Floraloom

Floraloom’s Colleen Monroe put her green thumb on the steering wheel, leaving LA for KC sunshine

Quarantine changed people — including Colleen Monroe, the serial entrepreneur said, looking back on the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles and the day she loaded her car with a few personal belongings and as many vases as it could hold. Uprooting her once-busy life, she hoped growth opportunities might bloom in…

Kearra Johnson, Revolution Card Deck, Studio Lo

KC designer’s new deck of cards celebrates Black icons who refused to play the hands they were dealt

Learning and celebrating Black history should be in the cards for more than just the month of February, Kearra Johnson said, unveiling a new design project that’s set to hit metro store shelves soon. “I really just want to create fun ways to get serious conversations started for the younger generation,” explained Johnson, founder of…

KreativeMindsKC

No ‘playing it safe’: Husband-wife team tackles Super Bowl demand with hometown-inspired tees

A family-owned side hustle is getting a major boost thanks to the Kansas City Chiefs second rush to a Super Bowl victory — and it couldn’t have come at a better time, explained Kendra’h Simmons.  “Now everyone is in a tizzy,” said Simmons, who co-founded KreativeMindsKC in 2019 alongside her husband, Reggie, describing ways excitement for…

Darcy Howe and Ed Frindt, KCRise Fund II

KCRise closes $41M Fund II, plans to invest in 20 high-growth tech companies

A newly closed, oversubscribed $41 million KCRise Fund II is poised to accelerate regional growth with an influx of talent and investment dollars for 20 high-growth technology companies benefitting Greater Kansas City, said Darcy Howe. And the work has already begun, the fund’s founder and managing director added. Before today’s closing announcement, Fund II had…