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Founded to sell: Emerging KC tech firm led by startup veterans announces $725K funding round
A Kansas City startup’s initial funding round is expected to help small businesses close more deals, faster, said Scott Hansen. LeadSigma, a powerful and easy-to-use sales engagement platform, has raised a $725,000 family and friends round, Hansen, co-founder of LeadSigma, announced Friday. The round included prominent opinion leaders and agency owners in targeted SMB verticals,…
KCK couple fuels road adventures as camper van rentals speed up, interest in RV life surges
Adventurers Spencer and Sarah Martin dreamed of owning a camper van for several years, they shared, but expenses and full-time jobs came as roadblocks. “I’m a science educator, and she’s a school nurse,” noted Spencer Martin. “Camper vans are expensive and then sit unused for a majority of the year, so it had always been…
Spot of tee: How a KC teacher scored big when Ted Lasso sported a ‘Joearthur Gatestack’ shirt
The story behind a Kansas City-designed T-shirt celebrating local barbecue culture has more meat to it than any given ’que joint’s combo platter, Brendan Curran said. “We met playing basketball in the eighth grade,” Curran, founder of local apparel company, Three KC, said of his childhood friend, Jason Sudeikis, Overland Park-native, actor, comedian, and current…
$12M capital infusion pumps Prairie Village-based Artio Medical to $46M in funding
A Johnson County medical device company announced Thursday the closing of an additional $12 million tranche of Series A financing — advancing the startup’s tech toward clinical study and commercialization with the backing of a leading Kansas City real estate developer. “We are thrilled to close this round of financing with strong support from existing investors…
US Air Force contracts Healium for ‘drugless’ therapy amid military suicide epidemic
As suicide rates among U.S. military service members continue to rise, Columbia-based Healium is doubling down on its mission to make mental fitness tools more accessible. “It’s an honor to serve these service members and their families who’ve sacrificed in ways we cannot imagine,” Sarah Hill, founder and CEO, told Startland News in announcing a…
How the first-ever movie sold on NFT is rigging KC-made ‘Lotawana’ for blockchain history
An independent film shot on Missouri’s Lake Lotawana is earning premier attention — becoming the world’s first piece of cinema to sell on the blockchain, potentially overhauling the way Hollywood connects with moviegoers, its creators said. “One thing that I’m very passionate about in life is cinema,” said Trevor Hawkins, the Emmy-winning local filmmaker who wrote…
The Toolbox aims to bridge cultural entrepreneur gap in WyCo; opening new resource center Thursday
Editor’s note: This story is sponsored and was produced by Forward Cities, a non-financial partner of Startland News and a national nonprofit that is managing the implementation of the ESHIP Communities program as a grantee of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Any opinions expressed in this commentary are those of the author. Pedro Morales, owner…
Report: UMKC Innovation Center helped create 500 new ventures, boost revenue by $245M in 2020
Amid a year of pandemic-prompted chaos in the business community, entrepreneurs forged ahead like rarely before seen, according to the UMKC Innovation Center’s new impact report, which details outcomes of the Kansas City-based resource network’s programming opportunities. “These entrepreneurs and leaders are our clients, our inspiration and our hope,” said Maria Meyers, executive director at…
Get sauced: Meet the hungry duo at the forefront of KC’s premier urban lunch counter
Jayaun Smith spent his free time as a kid watching “Iron Chef America” and creating his own unique recipes with what was available, he shared — noting it didn’t take him long to fall in love with cooking. “I spent a lot of time alone growing up,” recalled the 25-year-old chef, who now leads the…
Black, curvy and a certified yogi: How Mikita Burton is breaking down barriers with Yoga on the Vine
Yoga is meant to be inclusive, said Mikita Burton, even if that sentiment stretches the modern American picture of who practices yoga. “I’m a curvier girl. I’m African American — that’s just not the typical demographic for yoga,” explained Burton, who has been a certified yoga instructor for the past five years. “My hope is…
