Griffin

Donald Hawkins, KC Collective; STARTLAND's Innovation Exchange

Winning pitch: Leading KC fintech founder deposits trio of new bank partnerships 

One of Kansas City’s prominent fintech and nonprofit leaders has secured partnerships with three of the regions leading banks.  Donald Hawkins, founder and CEO of Griffin Technologies and a co-leader in KC Collective, was awarded pilot projects with Emprise Bank, Fidelity Bank, and Intrust Bank, Thursday — part of the Wichita-based NXSTAGE Pilot Competition, hosted…

Donald Hawkins, Griffin; Matt Moody, Bellwethr; and Jerry Workman and Parker Graham, Destiny

Trio of KC fintech startups named finalists in Wichita-based NXTSTAGE pilot competition

Three emerging fintech startups with Kansas City ties have found new entrepreneurial support southwest of the metro. Griffin, Destiny, and Bellwethr were announced as finalists in the Wichita-based, NXTSTAGE Pilot Competition, Wednesday — an effort designed to propel early-stage companies to the next stage of startup growth, largely through mentorship and connections to companies and regional…

Kwinton Scarborough, PawCon X; Pat McLoughlin, Digs; Elango Thevar, Neer; and Kim Naramore and Jillian Carlile, TravelHive, Pitch & Pint: KC Collective

Pitch & Pint: KC Collective unveils founders competing in real-time April 30 pitch event

While COVID-19 wreaks havoc across the globe, Kansas City entrepreneurs already are proving their resiliency, said Donald J. Hawkins. “They’re still grinding, iterating, and finding ways to make things happen,” said Hawkins, co-organizer of the KC Collective founder network, as well as co-founder of Griffin. “In addition to working on their own businesses, they’re diving…

Erin Papworth, Navit

Are venture-seeking women, minority founders at an unfair disadvantage in KC?

Editor’s note: The following is the second in a series of analyses of Startland’s list of Kansas City’s Top Venture Capital-Backed Companies. On stage with a handful of men, Erin Papworth faced a dilemma. The founder of Nav.It — one of the startups to recently complete Fountain City Fintech’s second accelerator cohort — found herself fighting…

Fountain City Fintech 2019 cohort

Party for the payoff: Fountain City Fintech sets Oct. 15 demo day, KC celebration

Kansas City’s ongoing fintech momentum deserves more than a nod from analysts and trend watchers, said Zach Pettet, announcing plans for an Oct. 15 demo day that’s already taking shape as a community celebration. “We need an excuse to rally together and celebrate everything that’s happened over the past few months — especially in the…