Latest Stories
Meet the No Coast winners: Homebase founder, Garmin lead 2020 KC tech honors
Tech is a team sport — a reality undefeated by COVID-19, the KC Tech Council said Wednesday, capping a two-day virtual No Coast ceremony that recognized the interconnectedness of Kansas City’s tech community with entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, education and policy. Among the first winners unveiled: veteran startup founder and CEO Blake Miller, whose Homebase.ai employs 25…
SafetyCulture deepens its COVID response with $29M acquisition of ‘micro-learning’ app
An Australian startup with a significant presence in Kansas City has acquired a mobile training app to boost COVID-era education for businesses through free “micro-learning” resources. “We’re experiencing the biggest workplace shake-up since economies were rebuilt after World War II. This is not survival of the fittest, this is survival of those that can adapt,”…
Entrepreneurs identified COVID needs — now GEWKC needs your help to solve them
Challenges exposed by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic are prompting a more focused slate of programming for Global Entrepreneurship Week Kansas City, Jenny Miller said, as organizers of the community-sourced celebration open applications for virtual “GEWKC Prime-Time” events. Prospective hosts will sign up for events in specific topic areas – such as starting a business, developing…
Plug and Play accelerator gains another major animal health backer: Hill’s Pet Nutrition
TOPEKA — Hill’s Pet Nutrition is the latest company to throw its support behind a new, Topeka-based animal health accelerator. “For over a century, Hill’s Pet Nutrition has been a cornerstone in the Topeka business community. They continue to be at the forefront of innovation and are a key driver in Topeka’s role in the…
‘Labor of love’: Leslie Scott’s decade-long mission to pair donors, nonprofits launches
A years-long project to help non-profits connect with donors is now a reality — thanks in large part to a government-issued economic stimulus check. “Because of my stimulus payment, I was able to actually pay a friend who’s a WordPress developer to do the site,” said Leslie Scott, non-profit advocate and founder of Re.Use.Full — a…
What Duh Fog: Couple offers dual take on inclusivity with COVID-prompted venture
The threat of COVID-19 exposed gaps in access to effective and proactive cleaning services for small businesses hoping to reopen amid the pandemic, said Eruvial Montes-Boyle. “We wanted to help people and businesses feel safe in their homes or shops, so making [fogging] available to all has been a huge driver for us,” said Montes-Boyle,…
To be blunt: Meowijuana sees record sales as COVID sparks deeper bonds for pets, owners
Consumer sensibilities are much higher in the 2020s than they were in 2005, Chris Glissman laughed, recalling his garage-baked idea for a stoner-inspired line of catnip. “You can guess what I was doing at the time,” he chuckled, looking back on his 15-year journey with Meowijuana — the Lenexa-based catnip giant that promises pets an…
Destination exit: Less talk, more acceleration drove quiet BacklotCars to $425M deal
In the half-decade run-up to BacklotCars’ historic $425 million exit, the Kansas City startup remained largely under the radar, Justin Davis acknowledged, noting the intentional move became less about strategy and more focused on team values. “Like many people in Kansas City and the Midwest, we all prefer getting to work rather than talking about…
Veteran founder unboxes startup smarts as new CEO, eyeing logistics company as KC’s next billion-dollar biz
Toby Rush enjoys disrupting the status quo, he said, questioning market strategies with the startup sensibilities that made him one of the region’s most successful entrepreneurs. As the new CEO of Smart Warehousing — an established, Kansas City-based logistics and supply chain company — the veteran startup founder plans to apply the same innovation-focused lens to…
OHUB.KC an investment in equity infrastructure, founder says; minority accelerator deadline Sept. 18
Kansas City’s startup community still has room to improve on racial equity and access issues, said Rodney Sampson, but the ecosystem should safeguard the progress it’s made now — before COVID-era re-settlers arrive, bringing potentially problematic culture with them from larger startup hubs. “When a lot of those folks leave regions like the coasts and come…
