Latest Stories
OneDayKC competition to inspire future Kansas City entrepreneurs
A Kansas City competition is sowing the seeds of entrepreneurship in local youth by challenging high schoolers to launch a business in only one day. Now in its second year, OneDayKC will welcome a herd of Kansas City high schoolers to join teams and create a viable venture in 12 hours. After crafting a venture,…
Video: John Fein offers an update on the Sprint Accelerator
John Fein, Techstars managing director, chats with Startland News editor Bobby Burch about the accelerator’s 2016 class. Now in its third year, the accelerator this year has a broader focus on all mobile technologies, as opposed to only mobile health in previous years. The accelerator in March welcomed ten new companies to its three-month, mentor-led program,…
Events Preview: Happy Hour tonight, LaunchCode Liftoff
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 Amazon Web Services Happy Hour When: March 24 @ 5:00 pm – 7:00 pm Where: Village Square Coworking Studio Thirsty? Come enjoy…
Thomas: 3 investing lessons from your busted bracket
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. It’s here — the one month of the year where a single college basketball tournament costs employers a collective $1.2 billion for every hour of lost productivity. And it’s fantastic! I’m a big believer that we can find investing lessons in nearly every…
Video: Sprint Accelerator firms deliver elevator pitches
Startland News, along with the Kansas City community, was able to mix and mingle with the current cohort of startups at the Kansas City-based Sprint Accelerator. In a Wednesday night event at the accelerator — located in the Crossroads Arts District — ten startup founders also quickly pitched their tech firms’ missions. The accelerator program, led…
Inaugural smart city summit eyes the future of public safety
How can technology improve the safety of a city? That subject and more will be discussed during the upcoming Smart City Tech Summit, which will host dozens of government officials and public safety professionals from around the U.S. The summit — set to take place March 29 through March 31 — will focus on the…
Stephens: It’s time to embrace Kansas City’s cowtown character
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. I get it. I do. Many of you moved to Kansas City from small Midwestern towns to get away. Kansas City is the big city. You are tired of the fly-over jokes, the rolling prairie, the Casey’s General Store. You want hip, cool,…
KCWiT diversifying Kansas City’s tech workforce with new program
A Kansas City organization is working to update your mental picture that software programmers are guys hunched over a keyboard in a dark room speedily typing code. The change? Replace the man in the picture with a woman. Well, and the dark room — that’s not the most healthy environment for any programmer. With the…
Kansas’ angel tax credits sprint to legal finish line
The Kansas House of Representatives nearly unanimously agreed that the state’s Angel Investor Tax Credits program must continue to boost early-stage businesses. The House voted 122 to 3 in favor of a measure that will extend the life of the $6 million program until 2021. Angel investor tax credits, which are set to expire in 2016,…
Shawnee native sells another startup for over $1B with GM deal
General Motors is hoping to become the leader of self-driving car technology with the gargantuan acquisition of Cruise Automation, whose founder has a local tie. GM announced on March 11 that it purchased Cruise for more than $1 billion in a move that aims to accelerate the development of GM’s autonomous vehicle tech. Cruise…
