Latest Stories
This North Kansas City hub will be base camp for GEWKC 2022; Deadline for event applications nears
KCSourceLink announced this week that Global Entrepreneurship Week-Kansas City, the metro’s largest celebration of entrepreneurship, has a new base camp for its 15th year. The Nov. 14-20 weeklong event series is setting its main events at iWerx in North Kansas City. Popular nearby businesses like Restless Spirits, Cinder Block Brewery and Chicken N Pickle will…
Alone or in the club: Virtual jukebox app spins back after laying new tracks as a social experience
Former music promoter Adell Hendon said he knew he couldn’t keep the turnup going forever on his own. Now the Kansas City native is helping other people party even longer with his socially-interactive virtual jukebox app — YouSpin. “I used to throw a lot of parties with DJs and even independent artists — a lot…
Nightlife app enhances its flavor with Westport Bars, KC brewing company partnerships
A strategic partnership with Westport Bars is going to do more than drive partygoers to the UpDown Nightlife app, Joshua Lewis said; it will give the startup data needed to scale its platform nationwide. “Through this partnership, we’re going to be able to really build out our business model,” said Lewis, the founder and CEO…
Big wins up the odds: KC’s standing among Midwest peer cities rises in new M25 ranking
Headline-grabbing success stories and newly boosted state funding for startup support are a powerful combination, said Victor Gutwein, detailing Kansas City’s higher 2022 spot on M25’s annual ranking of Midwest startup cities. Kansas City rose to No. 11 of 59 in the deep dive report — which explores how micro-environments in the Midwest are performing…
They told him to build it in California; this agtech founder came back to Kansas instead
When it came time to plant Trevor McKeeman’s agtech startup, he refused to farm the groundbreaking company’s future out to the coasts — specifically California where potential funders said he could find “money and talent.” “I was actually in Boston at the time,” explained McKeeman, founder and CEO of HitchPin, a digital marketplace for farmers…
Stream smarter, safer: Former Cisco engineer aims to replace Zoom as top video conferencing platform
Kenneth Yancy has been live streaming since the early 2000s — a time when not many were interested in the technology, he said. But 20 years later, a virtual-hybrid work model featuring video conferencing is the norm. “In 2001, I was working for Cisco as an engineer. My team and I built the first live…
‘Fan favorite’ among KC startups joining Wichita cohort; the prize: a playbook for reaching corporate customers
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. WICHITA…
None More Lonesome: Creative’s expression takes new form as ‘street art meets pop art meets tattoo flash’
Growing up in Olathe, Brett Crawford doesn’t really remember many places for local artists to put their work on display, he said. But times have changed and the artist and musician, who moved back to the Kansas City area during the pandemic, will see his None More Lonesome collection of paintings on display at Mean…
Feeling bad vibes at work? It actually could be your own fault (Holistic Hustle)
Kharissa Parker-Forte is a news producer, writer, certified health coach, and columnist for Startland News. Read her “Holistic Hustle” columns for Startland News here. For more of her self-care tips on how to keep your cup full, visit kparker.co. Editor’s note: This commentary kicks off Parker-Forte’s series on the 7 Pillars of Self-Care by discussing…
Rapidly scaling PayIt raises another $90M amid ‘long-overdue transformation’ of govtech
Growth and continued innovation are on the docket as Kansas City-filed PayIt closes a $90 million funding round. Led by the global firm Macquarie Capital Principal Finance, the capital injection is expected to keep fueling PayIt’s commitment to simplify the way people interact with the public sector in everyday places like the DMV and court…
