Heather Decker

Professor Ranan Aktas, Maltepe University

Ronawk using stem cell tech developed at Olathe lab to advance liver cancer research in Turkey

A Kansas City-based biomanufacturing startup announced its first international customer Tuesday: a university team in Istanbul that was among the first to beta test Ronawk’s lauded T-Blocks. The maker of 3D cell culture products said the collaboration with Professor Ranan Aktas and the Cancer and Stem Cell Research Center at Maltepe University in Turkey will…

A.J. Mellott, Ronawk

Olathe biotech startup represents Kansas in MassChallenge’s 50th accelerator program

More than 3,000 startups across the world applied to the 2021 MassChallenge accelerator program with Olathe-based biotechnology lab Ronawk earning one of the 229 slots to participate, shared A.J. Mellott. “[MassChallenge] has a really good reputation for accelerating companies that are in the startup mode and growing,” said Mellott, who co-founded Ronawk in 2019 with…

A.J. Mellott and Heather Decker, Ronawk

Olathe startup set to launch STEM training facility; plans to create 150 jobs over next seven years

Starting as two scientists with an idea to solve slow and costly cell production, Ronawk has now blossomed into a rapidly growing startup with an increasing demand for its work, said A.J. Mellott. “We quickly realized that Ronawk was going to need a lot of talent to meet the demand of its products,” said Mellott,…

10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2021

In a world disrupted, entrepreneurs are leading the charge — remaking their communities in the image of innovation and meeting a rising demand for solutions to real-world problems.  The future newsmakers assembled as part of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2021 list are eager to reinvent. They’re simplifying over-complicated industries and blazing bold…

A.J. Mellott and Heather Decker, Ronawk

2021 Startups to Watch: Ronawk’s T-Blocks stack the future of stem cell research in an Olathe lab

Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list. The following is one of 2021’s companies. Click here to view the full, ranked list of Startups to Watch — presented by sponsors Husch Blackwell and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Born out of a frustration with growing stem cells,…