Latest Stories
2022 Startups to Watch: Kenzen builds safety in numbers as investor, customer base for its wearables heats up
Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list, now in its seventh year recognizing founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2022’s companies. Click here to view the full…
2022 Startups to Watch: Interplay reimagines dog crating for the busy, but attentive, pet parent
Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list, now in its seventh year recognizing founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2022’s companies. Click here to view the full…
10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022
Innovation in Kansas City knows no age or industry. From pre-seed stage startups to firms with dozens of employees, the leading edge of tech in the Heartland has taken root — and grown in unexpected forms. The future newsmakers showcased as part of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022 list each are…
2022 Startups to Watch: afloat makes same-day gifting from local stores easy with soon-to-launch app
Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list, now in its seventh year recognizing founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2022’s companies. Click here to view the full…
Merger alert: ‘Shark Tank’ star teams with Gary Fish, Fishtech to form new cybersecurity powerhouse
A merger announced today between award-winning cybersecurity solutions providers Fishtech Group and Herjavec Group will unite the companies as a single entity under a new brand to be announced in early 2022. The deal — backed by funds advised by Apax Partners LLP (The Apax Funds), which will hold a majority stake in the new…
Vegan spell falls over West Bottoms restaurant as this trio’s plant-based potions ring in a new year
Every witch needs a coven, said Olive Cooke, Sylvia Metta and Kim Conyers; so they conjured a community in the West Bottoms to serve their vegan bites. Cauldron Collective — a plant-based, comfort food venture co-founded by self-proclaimed “cooking witches” Cooke, Metta and Conyers in January 2021 — made its mark in Kansas City through…
Topeka is building its own startup hub; a new group is pushing those left out from survival mode to creation
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. The…
Trade to troubadour: Ben Chaverin finds his hook, but just sampling KC’s music scene might not be enough
Entering the job market amid a global pandemic isn’t ideal, Ben Chaverin admits, but its challenges can become opportunities for those creative (and willing) enough to turn adversity into a new playlist. “I’ve learned so much in the last couple of years — and grown so much as a human being,” Chaverin said, recalling his December…
Why the ‘best cold brew you’ve ever tasted’ (and it’s brewer) are found only in KC
Tucked in your neighborhood grocer’s cooler waits an otherworldly cold brew — the smoothest this side of the twilight zone. And it can only be found in Kansas City. For now. “I take my craft really seriously and I taste every batch. If it’s not right, it doesn’t go out. It’s really important to me…
Torch.AI acquisition boosts its national security thumbprint, building out workforce proudly in KC
Leveraging Torch.AI’s local talent alongside targeted acquisitions gets the Leawood artificial intelligence firm closer to its goal of securely sharing data with the world, said Brian Weaver, founder and CEO, committing to keeping the surging company in Kansas City. “As our technology is being adopted by more and more customers and those customers continue to…
