Newly honored as a ‘world-changing idea,’ Pure Pitch Rally opens 2021 contest applications
A premier Kansas City pitch competition that awards emerging tech founders on-the-spot cash funding, along with a series of business bootcamp experiences, was honored this week among Fast Company’s 2021 World Changing Ideas. The winners include businesses, policies, projects and concepts that are actively engaged and deeply committed to pursuing innovation when it comes to solving…
Read MoreOverwhelmed, but not alone: How a KC serial entrepreneur helps Black founders move beyond side hustles and daydreaming
As Kira Cheree drove down I-70, headed west from Kansas City to Manhattan, Kansas, she recalled the years of work that put her in the driver’s seat and behind the wheel at that particular moment. “I started to notice this trend,” said Cheree, a serial entrepreneur, looking back on consulting work she’d done with Black…
Read MoreGeneration Changemakers: 5 ‘Next Great Idea’ pitches funded at Shawnee Mission contest
Gabby Lickteig didn’t initially think of herself as an entrepreneur, she said, though the seventh grader knew she had the potential — if she could just overcome the obstacle of an unfocused presentation. “I have a lot of ideas, but I was just bad at sharing them,” said Lickteig. “Now, I’m hoping to connect with someone…
Read MoreSplitsy takes top prize in Regnier challenge, adding to emerging fintech startup’s spring bump
The Regnier Venture Creation Challenge doled out more than $65,000 in cash prizes to emerging startups this spring, culminating in Friday’s big win for an up-and-coming fintech app. “We had a great competition,” Bryan Boots, managing director of venture creation and assistant teaching professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, told Startland News. The annual…
Read MoreMissouri House advances pro-entrepreneur bill that would lower taxes on self-starters
A vision to make Missouri more entrepreneur-friendly moved closer to reality Monday as state legislators passed a first-in-the-nation Right To Start Act, advancing the bill to the Senate on an 85-69 vote. “We made progress today to make Missouri a state that welcomes risk takers, the crazy ones, who want to build the next generation…
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