Kauffman FastTrac

Shark-Off

Beach-loving couple hopes to dissolve fear of sharks with Shark OFF repellent bracelets

Saving limbs, lives, and long-villainized, cartilaginous creatures of the sea — it’s the mission behind a first-of-its-kind Overland Park startup, Shark OFF, said Shea and Geoff Geist. “You’re more likely to get killed by a cow. You’re more likely to die falling out of bed,” said Geoff Geist, half of the husband-wife duo who founded…

Chris Cardinal, Welltodo

STL exit: Welltodo founder credits firm’s acquisition to early support from KC startup community

With the final deal still in the works Friday, Chris Cardinal said the acquisition of St. Louis-based Welltodo by SensorRX wouldn’t have been possible without the pre-seed rallying of his fellow entrepreneurs in Kansas City. Though the company moved across the state in 2016 to be closer to the co-founder’s in-laws, Cardinal said, the foundation for…

Roy Scott, Healthy Hip Hop, H3

Bitten by Disney sharks, Roy Scott beats the odds with Healthy Hip Hop

When a potentially life-altering business deal suddenly vanished, Roy Scott didn’t get mad — he got funded. “Disney thought they were going to snuff us out, but all they did was put gasoline on this fire,” said Scott, founder of Kansas City-based H3 Enterprises (Healthy Hip Hop). Rewind. Starting his company with a live performance-based…

Dave Alburty, CEO of InnovaPrep

Pipeline alum set to ‘save the world’ through $1M US Army biotech contract

The U.S. Army recently awarded a Missouri biotech startup a $1 million contract for 24 months. Based in Drexel, Missouri, about an hour south of Kansas City, InnovaPrep was selected out of hundreds of proposals for the Department of Defense’s 2016 Rapid Innovation Fund. The contract is expected to advance development of the U.S. Army…