Latest Stories
$1.7M+ crowdfunding haul puts ChessUp in attack position for production, hiring top talent
The makers of ChessUp are at a million-dollar advantage after the close of their first crowdfunding campaign. “It’s what we dreamed about and hoped for,” Jeff Wigh, CEO and one of three co-founders behind Bryght Labs, maker of ChessUp, said of the company’s first Kickstarter campaign and its $1.703 million close late last month. Becoming…
Startland News earns nine awards with first entry into Kansas journalism contest
Startland News celebrated its sixth birthday this week with news of its own — announcing nine awards from the Kansas Press Association for reporting and photography in 2020. The honors include four first-place wins for Startland News from among a crop of competitors that range from the Kansas City Business Journal, Kansas City Star, Topeka Capital-Journal…
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…
Overwhelmed, 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…
Generation 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…
Splitsy 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…
Missouri 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…
SafetyCulture rides deeper into unicorn club with $73M round, reaching $1.6B valuation
The evolution from a checklist app into an operations platform for working teams is paying off for SafetyCulture, which Monday announced a massive funding round from the East Coast — pushing the unicorn company even deeper into the realm of startups valued at more than a billion dollars. Led by New York-based Insight Partners, the…
Made in KC goes West: Why the local-first retailer is opening a marketplace (with shuffleboard) in Lenexa
A newly announced Made in KC Marketplace at Lenexa City Center will make local goods — and the makers behind them — more accessible to a fast-developing piece of Kansas City, said Keith Bradley. “Part of our mission as a company is to make shopping local a habit,” said Bradley, co-owner of Made in KC, a…
Coffee for the culture: Porter House KC founders partner with Messenger to craft Black-owned coffee brand
Black Drip Coffee brewed from within a desire to bring coffee culture to historically disenfranchised and underserved communities, said Charon Thompson and Daniel Smith. “It’s more than coffee,” noted Smith, who co-founded the brand, Black Drip Coffee, as well as the Porter House KC with Thompson. “We always talk about breaking down barriers and creating…
