Latest Stories

Pipeline recognizes the Innovator of The Year, announces 2017 class

St. Louis entrepreneur Michelle Faits was dubbed Pipeline Entrepreneurs’ Innovator of the Year at last night’s culminating event, The Innovators. Faits is the founder of Pro-Arc Diagnostics — a medical startup that is developing a next-generation laboratory test for patients at risk of Progressive Multifocal Leukoencephalopathy (PML) which is caused by the John Cunningham Virus….

How Kansas City’s accelerators are fueling area innovation

In partnership with Think Big Partners, the Innovation Exchange offers Kansas Citians context and behind-the-scenes details on newsmakers in the area entrepreneurial ecosystem. This month, area leaders — including the Techstars Kansas city managing director Lesa Mitchell — discussed the impact that accelerators have on the metro’s entrepreneurial community. If you missed the event, you…

Events Preview: Pipeline’s Innovator of the Year, Rise Fast Summit

There are a plethora of entrepreneurial events hosted in Kansas City on a weekly basis. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, supporter, or curious community member — we recommend these upcoming events for you. Weekly Events Preview Innovation Exchange When: Jan. 24, 4:30 p.m. – 6:00 p.m. Where: Think Big Coworking *** This month, Startland editor…

With KC expansion set, EquipmentShare raises $28.4M

A firm that’s planning to open a Kansas City tech office snagged millions in equity financing for its platform touted as the “Airbnb for construction equipment.” Based in Columbia, Mo., EquipmentShare raised about $28.4 in a Series B round that will accelerate its expansion to major metros around the nation, according to a filing with…

New FCC chairman Ajit Pai is familiar with KC startup community

A native Kansan that recently visited with the area’s entrepreneurial community will now head the Federal Communications Commission. President Donald Trump selected Ajit Pai, the senior Republican on the FCC to lead the commission, which regulates interstate and international communications by radio, television, wire, satellite and cable. “I am deeply grateful to the President of…

Need for speed: Mozilla awards $101K to local gigabit projects

The Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund announced it will award a total of $101,000 to fund six local projects that use gigabit technology to impact learning. The Gigabit Community Fund is a national partnership between the National Science Foundation, US Ignite and Mozilla. Locally, the fund partners with KC Digital Drive, whose goal is to leverage…

Firebrand Ventures joins $6.85M round in Des Moines startup

Continuing a streak of investments, Kansas City-based Firebrand Ventures joined a sizable investment in an Iowa-based payments processing startup. Firebrand joined six other venture funds in a $6.85 million funding round in Des Moines-based Dwolla, which builds applications that facilitate bank transfers, manages customers and verifies bank accounts. The round was led by Union Square…

Eze Redwood, Rise Fast

Challenging the notion of ‘entitled millennials,’ Rise Fast empowers young people

When the economy took a turn for the worst in 2008, many millennials saw their parents and grandparents laid off by companies they’d been loyal to for years. Eze Redwood said that although it’s easy to gloss over the impact that traumatic events have on a generation’s psyche, young professionals carry the weight of this…

As engagement grows, KC Women in Technology gears up for 2017

Imagine if the next Mark Zuckerberg was a young female living in Kansas City. Despite an interest and aptitude in technology, imagine she walks into a popular clothing store and seeing a shirt that reads: “I’m too pretty to do math.” Subliminal messages such as this are not an uncommon occurrence for many young women….