KCRise Fund

Chris Goode, Ruby Jean's Juicery

Junior Achievement honoring Ruby Jean’s founder with its 2022 KC Innovator Award

A group hoping to inspire the next generation of leaders, thinkers and doers has tapped a young entrepreneur with a healthy appetite for expansion as its next KC Innovator Award winner. Chris Goode, founder of Ruby Jean’s Juicery, is set to be honored with the award Nov. 1 during the Junior Achievement of Kansas City’s…

Brian King, Realto

KC investors power $4.5M round for OP startup poised to ‘unlock billions’ for its customers

Overland Park-based Realto has closed a $4.5 million funding round — thanks in large part to the backing of Kansas City-based investors.  “We’re excited to welcome these important investors as we continue to expand our robust trading capabilities across the universe of alternative products,” Brian King, co-founder and CEO, said in announcement of the funding round which…

Idle Smart team: Kaley Lester, Brayden Jensen and Andrew Smith

How a KC partnership helped Idle Smart avoid a cold start that could’ve stalled its recovery

Editor’s note: The following story is sponsored by Academy Bank, a Kansas City based community bank, and is part of a series of features spotlighting some of the bank’s startup and small business partners. Wasted time is wasted money — a notion at the forefront of Idle Smart, a Kansas City IoT tech company built…

Hometown startups want their due; sister-led QuickHire’s $1.4M round could be just the start

QuickHire’s potential for success is enhanced — not limited — by the young tech startup’s south-central Kansas geography, said Deborah Gladney, one half of a sister-led Wichita venture that recently announced its $1.4 million round boosted by a leading Kansas City fund. “Being from Wichita, we’ve come to know and appreciate everything this city has to…

Trident storage by Spear Power Systems

KC startup’s sale charges strategy as battery innovator plugs into century-old tech firm

A Massachusetts tech company’s strategy to advance into new clean energy markets is now electrified thanks to the completed acquisition of Grandview-based Spear Power Systems — a leader in next generation battery storage systems for demanding land, sea and air applications. “The acquisition of Spear Power Systems enables us to deliver more comprehensive energy storage…