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Gavin Dell with the Mystery Machine from "Scooby Doo!"

New in KC: Hollywood veteran designs animation academy to make young artists more hirable

Editor’s note: New in KC is an ongoing profile series that highlights newly relocated members of the Kansas City startup community, their reasons for a change of scenery, and what they’ve found so far in KC. This series is sponsored by C2FO, a Leawood-based, global financial services company. Click here to read more New in KC profiles. A touch of Hollywood…

Get Started Omaha, Husch Blackwell

Husch Blackwell opens pitch contest for early-stage startups, welcoming KC to apply

Editor’s note: Husch Blackwell is a financial supporter of Startland News. This report was produced independently for Startland News’ nonprofit newsroom. Startups in Kansas City and nationwide have the opportunity to compete for $25,000 in cash plus pro bono services in an upcoming pitch contest organized by a leading law firm. Get Started Omaha has…

Jonelle Jones, co-owner of Kind Food; photo by Jennifer Wetzel

Fill ’em with kindness: Why one plant-based eatery is moving it’s do-good mission to KCK

With every order up at Kind Food’s Iron District-forged counter, Kansas City becomes a little more compassionate — or at least compassion-curious, Jonelle Jones said, dishing on the do-good mission and plans for growth that will soon take the North Kansas City-based restaurant into the heart of Kansas City, Kansas.  “Eat more plants and be good…

Bitcoin Day coming to KC: Experts share how startups can benefit from cryptocurrency 

The realm of innovation and growth is extensive when it comes to how entrepreneurs can integrate cryptocurrency into their business models, said Don Stuart.  “Specific to Kansas City, we’ve seen more and more interest here in the past few months with different companies getting set up to accept Bitcoin for payments — just because they…

Brett Malinowski, Magic Mushroom Clubhouse

How an Overland Park blockchain creator grew $1.4M in 17 minutes with ‘Magic Mushrooms’

More than 3,300 individuals entered the biotic metaverse, becoming members of the exclusive Magic Mushroom Clubhouse. “I dropped everything for this project, and then we ended up selling out in 17 minutes,” said Brett Malinowski, the creator of the non-fungible token (NFT) profile picture project, Magic Mushroom Clubhouse.  “It’s this new wave of NFTs where…

Lightwell building overlooking the outdoor seating of Jason's Deli, incoming home of Strang Chef Collective at Lightwell

More downtown eats: Chef-driven food hall joining Made in KC on Lightwell’s ground floor

Nearly two years after details of a chef collective at Lightwell were first teased, developers today announced the popular urban Johnson County food experience Strang Hall will indeed open a second location in downtown Kansas City. “Like the original Strang Hall in downtown Overland Park, the concept will be a casual, modern space designed for…

Sharmil Desai, Menufy

Menufy sale scales HungerRush to more than 500 workers, 20,000 restaurants, KC co-founder says

Growth isn’t new to the menu for Menufy’s Leawood based team, said Sharmil Desai, noting the online platform for restaurants had grown to 140 employees before its freshly announced acquisition by HungerRush. “I can’t think of any point when Menufy has not been adding and expanding,” Desai, co-founder and CEO of Menufy, told Startland News….

The Innovator Awards recognize innovativeness and marketability of project ideas in Project Lead The Way's biomedical science and engineering capstone courses. (File photo by Charles Maples)

How intersecting K-12 student competitions build design thinking, inventiveness and an entrepreneurial mindset

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Callen Fairchild Zind is communications manager for the KC STEM Alliance. How do you prepare for a career when the world is changing at such a rapid pace that no one can quite envision what jobs of the future will look like? In Kansas…

Stadium rendering from Kansas City NWSL, by Generator Studio, JE Dunn and Monarch Build

How a new stadium planned for Kansas City’s riverfront could redefine ‘long-neglected’ neighborhood 

A $70 million project along Kansas City’s riverfront is expected to be the first stadium purpose-built for a National Women’s Soccer League (NWSL) team, Kansas City NWSL owners announced Tuesday, unveiling early plans for the 11,000-seat complex just north of downtown. “The goals for reclaiming our long-neglected riverfront have been bold but clear – develop…

Leawood-based online restaurant platform Menufy acquired by hungry Houston cloud company

A rapidly scaling Leawood tech company that helped dozens of Kansas City restaurants, as well as eateries across 3,000 other cities, survive the pandemic has sold to a Houston-based cloud software provider for the restaurant industry. Menufy’s vast online food ordering platform and network is expected to be incorporated into the HungerRush 360 cloud POS…