Latest Stories

Overland Park startup Member Jets crowdsources private flights to cut costs, save time

An Overland Park tech firm is bringing charter flights to the masses with its crowdsourcing platform that reduces the costs to fly in swanky private jets. Founded in 2015, Member Jets created a private aviation community that connects travelers to discounted private flights by aggregating available seats and travel opportunities. Now used at Kansas City’s…

The Kansas City Public Library OneNorth

Tech hub at Kansas City Public Library to accelerate entrepreneurship

The Kansas City Public Library is doing its part to promote entrepreneurship with a soon-to-be opened learning and tech hub at the downtown Central Library. The new,  2,100-square-foot space — named OneNorth Technology Center — will boast nearly four dozen computers, a dozen tablets and free access to a variety software. Among many offerings, OneNorth…

Events Preview: Lean Lab Workshop, SpiderOak Launch

There are a boatload of entrepreneurial events hosted in Kansas City on a weekly basis. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, supporter or curious Kansas Citian, we’d recommend these upcoming events for you. WEEKLY EVENT PREVIEW   The Lean Lab’s Innovation Workshop When: April 15 – April 16 Where: Think Big Coworking Build the Future of KC Schools….

Report: Kansas City startups snagging more dough in 2016

Kansas City has made significant strides when it comes to improving access to early-stage capital, though its relative volume still lags other startup hubs, according to a recent report. In the first three months of 2016, Kansas City has boosted its total capital raised by about 297 percent when compared to the same time period…

startups vs. small business

Kohrs: Genesis matters in the startup vs. small business debate

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone.   What’s the real difference between a startup and a small business? There’s been a lot of people talking about this since the term “startup” first joined our vernacular during the dot-com bubble. I think it’s because our brains are wired to categorize…

Fund me, KC: MyCroft AI to take on Amazon Echo, Siri

Startland News is continuing its segment to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs —  like MyCroft AI CEO Joshua Montgomery — to share their stories to gain a little help from their supporters. If you or your startup is running a crowdfunding campaign, let us know by…

The Lean Lab partners with 4.0 Schools to innovate KC education

More than 100 years ago, our education system was designed and built to prepare an early-1900s workforce for the industrial age. Today, children are learning with iPads and Youtube, but the bones of the traditional liberal arts structure remain similar to what our great-grandparents experienced. Local education innovation incubator The Lean Lab hopes to change…

Google Fiber nixes free Internet offering in Kansas City

It’s often said there’s no such thing as a free lunch. And in Google’s case, there’s no such thing a free fiber connection — at least anymore. The tech titan last week nixed its free Internet offering, which dished out download speeds of 5 megabits-per-second and upload speeds of 1 mbps. Google has offered the…

Regional Roundup

When your tech becomes an expensive paperweight

Here’s this week’s dish on expensive paperweights, company culture and bootstrapping. Check out more in this series here.   The Verge: Nest is permanently disabling the Revolv smart home hub In a shot across the bows of any early-adopter interested in startup tech, Nest announced that it’s shutting down Revolv’s IoT smart home hub. Google-owned…

QM Power snags $9M round for high-tech electric motor

Kansas City-based QM Power recently raised significant capital to accelerate development of its electric motor that the company says will transform its industry.   The tech firm raised $9.06 million from undisclosed investors to boost development of the “Q-Sync Smart Synchronous Motor.” QM Power says the motor is as much as 80 percent more efficient…