Latest Stories
Five Elms Capital leads investment round in Atlanta SaaS firm
Five Elms Capital is continuing a streak of deals to kick off 2017. The Kansas City-based venture capital firm announced Monday that it’s the lead investor in MemberClicks, a SaaS provider that helps associations, trade groups and nonprofits manage members. Five Elms — which was joined by New York-based Level Equity as lead investors —…
Cali tech firm AutoAlert to create 300 Kansas City jobs
AutoAlert, an Irvine, Calif. Based tech firm, announced Friday that it’s planning to relocate its headquarters to Kansas City. The firm — which will receive a Missouri Works grant of as much as $9.2 million if it meets its job creation projection — offers automotive software communications using data mining and trade-cycle management tools. With plans…
Healthy hip-hop duo remixes rap for exercise, education tech
Raised in the urban core of Kansas City, Roy Scott grew up idolizing gangster rap. Inspired by 90s hip-hop artists such as N.W.A. and Bell Biv DeVoe, he always hoped to become a famous rapper. But years later when raising his own son, a light bulb went off for Scott when he heard his 4-year-old…
CNBC: Kansas City is a top place to affordably ‘live large’
Kansas City was once again nationally recognized as a locale in which residents can live well on a base salary that’s comparatively low to coastal cities. CNBC named Kansas City No. 9 on its list of 12 cities “where you can live large on $60,000.” “The best places are likely the ones where you can…
Listen: Madison Flitch founder carves a furniture firm with KC stories ingrained
Editor’s note: In partnership with the KC Greats podcast, hosted by Scott Parman, Startland News hopes to offer its audience more avenues to learn about entrepreneurs in Kansas City. Opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. In this episode, Parman chats with Madison Flitch founder John Pryor, who shares the story of bootstrapping his…
Meet the Kauffman Foundation’s newest board member
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation has added a new member to its high-caliber board of trustees. The foundation announced Thursday that Esther L. George — the current president and CEO of the Federal Reserve Bank of Kansas City — will serve on its board. As a member of the board, George will support the foundation’s…
15 local companies selected for latest ScaleUP cohort
ScaleUp Kansas City announced Thursday the 15 entrepreneurs that were selected to the program’s latest cohort. Since its launch in 2015, 62 local business owners have graduated from the four-month program, which offers immersive training for companies looking to scale. “ScaleUP! KC has been — and continues to be — such a critical program for…
Hyper-sustainable coffee shop opens in Hyde Park
A Kansas City coffee roaster with a focus on sustainability and creating zero landfill waste is hoping its first shop will be a model for cafes around the nation. A product of the Kansas City-based Paris Brothers food and coffee distribution company, Mother Earth Coffee has been available in local grocery stores and via wholesale…
Silicon Valley accelerator 500 Startups invests in KC tech firm
A Kansas City firm planning to transform the world with its artificial intelligence tech recently landed in a highly-esteemed startup accelerator in Silicon Valley. Mycroft announced Wednesday that it’s in the latest cohort of 500 Startups, a global venture capital seed fund and startup accelerator that manages $200 million in assets and has invested in…
Virtual reality field trips offer black history experiences for KC students
With backgrounds in tech, education and business, five women have joined forces to create technology-based educational experience to impart lessons on black culture. Last month, the V Form Alliance received a $19,000 grant from Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund to fund the group’s inaugural project: Virtual Realities in Culture: Explorations of the African Diaspora Project. With…
