Tommy Felts
Editor-In-Chief, Startland News
Tommy is editor-in-chief for Startland News, a Kansas City-based nonprofit newsroom that uses storytelling to elevate the region’s startup community of entrepreneurs, innovators, hustlers, creatives and risk-takers.
Under Tommy’s leadership, Startland News has expanded its coverage from a primarily high-tech, high-growth focus to a more wide-ranging and inclusive look at the faces of entrepreneurism, innovation and business.
Before joining Startland News in 2017, Tommy worked for 12 years as an award-winning newspaper journalist, designer, editor and publisher. He was named one of Editor & Publisher magazine’s top “25 Under 35” in 2014.
Recent Stories by Tommy Felts
Kansas City’s Top VC-Backed Companies in 2019
The Top Venture Capital-Backed Companies List recognizes the momentum pushing an emerging cohort of Kansas City growth-stage, venture-backed companies. Simply put, the list — updated and now published annually — shows a massive increase in venture capital deployed to Kansas City companies in 2019, as well as a significant jump in jobs at those businesses….
RFP360 doubles in size since December; team back under one roof with move to new space
RFP360 is coming full circle, said Stuart Ludlow, as the software company he co-founded with David Hulsen in the Kansas City Startup Village once again levels up to accommodate a swelling team and increasing market demand. “We’re moving into a place — scale and scope — that Dave and I envisioned,” said Ludlow, who also…
Natural fit: Ruby Jean’s opening new juicery inside busy Whole Foods
The fresh-pressed, multi-year deal to open a brick-and-mortar Ruby Jean’s Juicery inside a high-traffic Whole Foods location puts Chris Goode in a position to scale his clean concept even further beyond Kansas City, he said. “We’re in the healthy food space and Whole Foods has cornered that market pretty broadly. With its parent company now…
Peek inside: Project Commons teen accelerator pilot aims for ‘innovation, collaboration, impact’
Innovation is growing on the third floor of Goodwill’s East Crossroads center, enabling Kansas City’s next generation to take ownership of their city. “We really wanted to sort of address their needs, hear more about their voice and engage with them,” William Dowdell, program director at Hire KC, said of the 21 students who make…
Two novice gardeners in an Olathe lab could harvest Kansas’ first legal hemp harvest
Potential for a high-yield payoff grows with each day as Michael Wilson and James DeWitt inch closer to their first hemp harvest — likely the first in the state in modern times, they said. “It’s the jumping off point to create a repeatable process,” said DeWitt, co-founder and CEO at United American Hemp. “We’ve learned…
Tea-Biotics bottles $1.2M in quick funding round; taps into thirsty new markets for kombucha
From jar-lined countertops in her kitchen to a 13,000-square-foot facility brimming with brew tanks, Lisa Bledsoe’s mission to pour Kansas City a more refreshing bottle of “booch” is scaling fast, she explained over a freshly tapped glass of her “Beachlife”-flavored kombucha. “I think it can be an inspiration for younger women or even other women…
LG Electronics tech expert: Kansas City a smart home for corporate-startup collaboration (IXKC photos)
Tech industry giants see significant potential in the ideas being created in startup hubs like Kansas City, an LG Electronics leader told a crowd gathered this week at Homebase. “A lot of startup companies can bring innovation to the front. Big companies like ours, sometimes we’re so busy that we lose track of that activity,”…
Explore inside: Thee Outpost offers fresh brew of Thou Mayest, Collective Ex coffee-creative collaboration (Photos)
The way is open and a new era has begun for Kansas City’s dreamers, doers, makers, and caffeinated creators. “I’m really pulling that curtain back [and letting] makers do what they do,” explained Johnny Dawbarn, founder of Collective Ex — a collaborative of artisans, designers and creatives at 519 E. 18th St., now open to…
Tech pioneer Don Peterson to guide new LaunchKC-Nueterra health accelerator
Leading the new LaunchKC Health Accelerator is Don Peterson’s way of giving back to a community that opened its arms to his family nearly 30 years ago, he said. “I’m proof that we can accomplish the entrepreneurial dream right here in KC and feel like it’s my duty to pay that forward,” said Peterson, a…
InnovateHER KC founder leaving KCSF as womxn’s community-building startup scales
It’s time to set InnovateHER KC on the path to long-term growth, said Lauren Conaway, announcing her plans to leave the Kansas City Startup Foundation in early July to lead the womxn-focused startup full-time. “InnovateHER KC’s No. 1 priority right now is building out our community with intention,” said Conaway, founder of InnovateHER KC and…