VIDEO: Startup leaders talk KC Startup Foundation (plus bloopers)
August 10, 2017 | Bobby Burch and Meghan LeVota
So, what exactly is the Kansas City Startup Foundation?
For one, it is a foundation. Secondly, it involves startups. And last but not least, it serves Kansas City.
If you have ever found yourself confused about what exactly the Kansas City Startup Foundation does and which programs it offers, then the video below is for you.
Since the foundation’s launch in 2016, it has undergone many pivots, shifts and changes.
As you may have read in the news earlier this week, the foundation has merged with Center for Entrepreneurial Ecosystem Development, a for-profit community building organization spearheaded by Adam Arredondo. A former board member at the Kansas City Startup foundation, Arredondo will now serve as the executive director for the nonprofit.
It became clear to Arredondo that both organizations shared the same vision: “to create the most connected startup ecosystem in the world.”
And as Matthew Marcus, the Kansas City Startup Foundation’s director of operations, began to realize, “volunteer efforts alone were only going to take the foundation so far. We needed more resources and more support to champion our efforts.”
Former co-founders of the now-defunct local events startup Local Ruckus, Arredondo and Marcus have been through a lot with each other. The pair also served as integral community builders cultivating the Kansas City Startup Village since about 2012.
In the video below, Arredondo and Marcus share their entrepreneurial journey and detail what to expect from the foundation in the future.
Bloopers
Featured Business
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Autotech startup VINCUE secures Series B with fleet of industry investors, innovators
A downtown Kansas City-headquartered startup’s first major institutional investment is expected to enable the company to scale operations, advance its product roadmap, and meet increasing market demand, its co-founders said Tuesday. VINCUE — an end-to-end inventory lifecycle solution for retail automotive dealerships and one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022 —…
Bottom line, their ‘Grief Forecast’ calculates how much ignoring employees’ loss will cost a company
An Overland Park-based HRtech startup has added new tools to its B2B software platform that equips corporate leaders with the necessary knowledge to support grieving employees. This summer, Workplace Healing launched its Grief Forecast, a free resource that calculates how much a company will lose from its annual bottom line by not properly supporting employees…
Sunflower fest opens at KC Wine Co as popular pumpkin patch grows into year-round destination
Transforming from a Jurassic farm to a winter wonderland, the green thumbs at KC Pumpkin Patch have grown their niche as a year-round destination in rural southwest Johnson County. Next set to bloom: a sunflower-rich selfie oasis on the prairie (with wine). “We loved having folks come for the fall [pumpkin patch] season, but people…
Hemp could be the next superfood: How one state-backed company is connecting farmers to retailers now
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. AUGUSTA, Kansas — A Kansas company specializing in agricultural and industrial hemp hopes that a collaborative, educational approach in a burgeoning industry will benefit farmers, the environment, and end users…