NXTSTAGE
Voice of the Chiefs offers advice for startups: Stay hungry, humble and pointed toward your goal post
WICHITA, Kansas — Don’t settle for one winning season, Mitch Holthus — the longtime voice of the Kansas City Chiefs — told a group of startup founders, encouraging entrepreneurs to keep pushing forward before they find themselves hitting a professional plateau. “You celebrate milestones, but you don’t stay there,” said Holthus, comparing the average lifespan…
Siblings spin family pet into family business, capitalizing on alpaca’s plush potential
One Wyandotte County family’s trip to a local fair inspired their interest in alpacas, but it wasn’t until they brought one of the animals home as a pet that they realized the business opportunities they’d unleashed. “That’s where the idea started of — ‘Hey, we can actually make this an Alpaca clothing company and reduce…
NXTSTAGE taps trio of KC entrepreneurs to help their companies grow revenue, scale
WICHITA — Three Kansas City startup founders are among 20 early-stage companies selected for the latest NXTUS program aimed at boosting innovation from within urban and rural areas throughout the state of Kansas. Joining the 2024 NXTSTAGE Customer Traction Cohort: Joy Broils, Hustle & Ground, Shawnee; Mark Lukenbill, Mpruv Sports, Basehor; and Crystal Webster, Sharing…
This Wichita program is helping KC startups connect the dots to corporate partners
WICHITA — An eight-week program targeting knowledge and access gaps between emerging startups and enterprise companies helped boost a trio of Kansas City ventures whose founders are now eying new customers and partners as they scale. The 2023 NXTSTAGE Enterprise Engagement Series — an initiative of Wichita-based NXTUS — wrapped its latest cohort during Wichita Startup…
KC entrepreneurs tapped to team up with top-tier Kansas enterprise businesses
A trio of emerging Kansas City startups are among 20 cohort members selected to forge new strategic connections with big-name Kansas enterprise partners like Koch, Evergy, Cargill and Spirit AeroSystems. Wichita-based NXTUS this week announced the latest program participants for the NXTSTAGE Enterprise Engagement Series — a diverse array of growth-minded entrepreneurs offering innovative tech…
