Latest Stories
People aren’t disposable batteries: Josh Levin expands Empowered brand to show entrepreneurs they’re worthy of success
Josh Levin wasn’t born a success but a statistic, the Empowered Electric founder said, describing a childhood of severe poverty and a rough past. That history of hardship led him to a revelation — and a mantra. “All of our employees and customers know that the concept behind Empowered Electric is ‘People Over Profit,’” Levin…
Fund Me, KC: Tohi Ventures pours pandemic lemons into healthy drink donation effort
Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs — like Shari Coulter Ford’s campaign to donate healthy drinks to food banks — to share their crowdfunding stories to gain a little help…
How Travis Kelce, Operation Breakthrough plan to turn this old muffler shop into a coworking space, lab for teens
As organizers look to re-open the doors to Walt Disney’s historic Laugh-O-gram Studios, they’re introducing Kansas Citians to a new era along Troost — in-part ushered in by a Kansas City Chiefs star and one of the city’s highest impact non-profit organizations. Plans for Operation Breakthrough’s Ignition Lab were on full display Thursday night, as Thank…
‘Business is pointless unless you’re helping others’: Makerspace connects community through woodworking
Building and creating with one’s own hands is an experience unlike any other, said Deborah Giudicessi. “There’s that sense of accomplishment and pride that comes with building something,” said Giudicessi, founder of The DIY Woodshop in Olathe. “And learning how to create, it triggers this thought process that teaches you how to analyze and how…
Look to your father, not the coach: Why one fit entrepreneur hopes to redefine ‘dad bod’
Fatherhood — like athletics — is a physical and mental challenge with lifelong impacts, said Isaac Thibault, detailing the parallels at the core of his pandemic-pivoted career turn as a personal trainer. Launched this summer, Thibault’s PushIT Fitness targets married men with children — a demographic that allows the 25-year-old Overland Park entrepreneur an opportunity to…
TrackMy Vaccines allows patients to record COVID-19 vaccine reactions; use real-time data to ID trends
With millions of Americans set to be inoculated with the Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine this year, Kansas City startup TrackMy Solutions transformed its technology into a web app with which patients can track their vaccine reactions, Jeremy Elias said. “There’s a system known as VAERS, or Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System, that exists today for any…
Mayo Clinic partnership proves TripleBlind’s privacy tech can be applied to healthcare, co-founder says
A new partnership with Mayo Clinic will put Kansas City-stored TripleBlind’s data privacy promise to the test. “We hope to demonstrate the potential of applying TripleBlind’s data privacy and data clean room solution to accelerate how we develop, test, and deploy AI solutions in healthcare, particularly amidst heavily regulated privacy concerns,” Riddhiman Das, co-founder and…
How challenging norms could be Black founders’ key to overcoming lingering funding gap
When authenticity and startup culture collide, Black founders and entrepreneurs of color often don’t see the same opportunities as their white counterparts, said Daniel Smith, contributing to a gap in funding that splits along racial lines. “I talk a certain way; I have different mannerisms; I like to dress a certain kind of way —…
UpDown Nightlife set to relaunch app; secures lead investor for $500K seed round
When COVID-19 turned out the lights on nightlife in 2020, Joshua Lewis didn’t go into panic mode, he said. The persistent founder used the time to flesh out his app’s tech platform — and in the process found a key funder for UpDown Nightlife. “This is our first real round of funding where we’re able to…
Rethinking healthcare: How a doctor and activist brought more than 5,000 COVID-19 tests to KC’s most vulnerable
A primary care physician with an innovative take on healthcare and a passionate activist with an extensive background in video production might seem like an unlikely duo, said Dr. Allison Edwards. But she and serial creative Jay Austin united their strengths during the pandemic to help underserved communities in Kansas City gain access to critical…
