LaunchKC

KC Outpost at SXSW: LaunchKC sparking interest in Kansas City-fueled Next-Gen tech talk

LaunchKC has landed in Austin for SXSW and is planting a flag in the ground for Kansas City this weekend, said Drew Solomon. Set for Sunday at the popular bar Maggie Mae’s in Austin, KC Outpost returns with presentations featuring expert speakers from Virgin Hyperloop One, Garmin, FishTech Group, Mastercard and other high-profile organizations, said…

startups kcmo budget

Startup advocates rally, demand KCMO invest more of its $1.73B budget in entrepreneurs

If Kansas City leaders want to build a stronger community, they should start by supporting early stage entrepreneurs, said Lesa Mitchell. “I’m simply here to say — we’re not spending enough money … and we need to look at it,” Mitchell, managing director of Techstars Kansas City, told KCMO city council members Saturday during a public…

Sean Null, Erkios

Digital Sandbox charges three new startups with its proof-of-concept challenge

An effort to elevate Kansas City’s creative minds, Digital Sandbox KC is digging deeper in its sixth year of acceleration — adding three new startups to its portfolio, the proof-of-concept program announced this week. “Our initial goal was to find 10 early-stage concepts that had high-growth potential and help them secure follow-on funding,” said Jeff Shackelford,…

Jim Malle, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City, LaunchKC

LaunchKC pivoting from annual grants contest to supporting industry verticals, accelerators

LaunchKC is expected to focus on specific business verticals in 2019 — an effort to bring companies to Kansas City that can fill industry gaps, said Jim Malle. A revamped version of the annual grants competition eventually would grow those verticals into individual accelerator programs, said Malle, business development officer at the Economic Development Corporation…

Mark Davis, RealQuantum, at LaunchKC

Curb appeal attracts investors to $850K round for real estate tech firm RealQuantum

A year of steady growth will help Kansas City real estate tech firm RealQuantum end 2018 with the close of its first round of seed funding — securing $850,000 in investments, revealed Mark Davis. “We closed a couple of times actually — people just kept showing up at the last minute wanting in,” Davis, RealQuantum’s…