Some like it hot: KC named top startup town
August 6, 2015 | Bobby Burch
You’re hot, Kansas City, and it’s not just your sweltering summer heat.
Entrepreneur Magazine recently named Kansas City — Mo. and Kan. — as one of nine “hot startup cities” that are outside of San Francisco and New York City.
Although Kansas City is also known for its tech prowess, the magazine largely noted the City of Fountains as a foodie town that concocts a variety of specialty foods. Entrepreneur reported that since 2013, 71 new food companies launched in the area.
“Krizman’s House of Sausage has been selling ethnic sausages and knockwurst to Kansas City locals since 1939,” the article reads. “It’s one of the city’s growing number of specialty-foods businesses—including bakeries, breweries, distilleries, candy-makers and, of course, bottlers of barbecue sauce. Driving this growth are three local food-business incubators, including the Farm to Table Kitchen housed at the famed City Market, designed to help ‘foodpreneurs’ connect with mentors, commercial kitchens, collaborative infrastructure, marketing awareness and the greater Kansas City food community.”
Other cities on Entrepreneur’s “hot startup cities” list are Salt Lake City, Baltimore, Nashville, Sacramento, Minneapolis – St. Paul, Houston, Boston and Los Angeles.
Featured Business

2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
De-risking a dangerous job: How a window washing startup is raising the bar (and hose) with drones
It’s a nightmare to clean the windows of multi-story buildings, said Andrew Brain. “It’s incredibly unsafe for folks to be hanging on the side of buildings — and it’s incredibly expensive for them to be there. Insurance liability has gone up 300 to 400 percent. … I was thinking that there’s got to be a…
Callie England’s latest venture has no name or website; When odds are you’ll die next week, you learn to prioritize, she says
Sometimes hypothetical questions become all too real, said Callie England, a serial entrepreneur who frequently posed a speculative query to herself and clients: “If you were going to die next week, what decisions would you make?” It was a question she was forced to answer honestly in July 2021, when the veteran Kansas City startup…
Wingman’s twice-fried chicken flies south, finding its sweet spot in Johnson County
A pandemic-battered, Westport fried chicken restaurant is on the move, chasing new opportunities in Overland Park and frying up a second chance that could be the secret ingredient to franchise expansion, its owner said. “Wingman is the food provider for the entire district,” said Duane Jordan, owner of a Wingman Kitchen franchise, detailing the restaurant’s…
Students hope to make KU the ‘premier blockchain university’; Here’s how startups can help
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. LAWRENCE…
