VIDEO: Startup leaders talk KC Startup Foundation (plus bloopers)

August 10, 2017  |  Bobby Burch and Meghan LeVota

Adam Arredondo and Matthew Marcus

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

 

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

Did you enjoy this post? Show your support by becoming a member or buying us a coffee.

Tagged , ,
Featured Business
    Featured Founder

      2017 Startups to Watch

        stats here

        Related Posts on Startland News

        LPOXY initiates $28M Series A financing with 5 Horizons Ventures to fund pivotal trial 

        By Tommy Felts | September 4, 2025

        PLATTE CITY, Mo. — Funding to secure the upcoming trial of a Missouri biopharmaceutical company’s solution for preventing a deadly gut infection could prove critical in the fight against a condition that claims 80 U.S. lives daily, said Dr. Larry Sutton. LPOXY Therapeutics, which is developing a novel non-antibiotic therapy to prevent Clostridioides difficile infections…

        When farmers get paid faster, everyone eats; HitchPin brings fintech to ag, good to humanity, founder says

        By Tommy Felts | September 3, 2025

        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.  The fintech revolution typically overlooks agriculture, Trevor McKeeman said, noting that any move to bring tools — like a payment platform within a digital marketplace — definitely breaks ground for…

        Chocolate maker (and coffee roaster) earns bean-to-bar accolades from his Grandview base

        By Tommy Felts | September 3, 2025

        Kansas City has plenty of confectioners, but it’s rare to find true bean-to-bar work, Mike King said. That distinction makes Encore Coffee and Chocolate’s process both resourceful and extraordinary. “There’s only a few of us that are making our own chocolate,” said King, founder of Grandview-built Encore Coffee and Chocolate. “I consider myself a chocolate…

        Alex Krause Matlack, director, Entrepreneurship Scholars, UMKC

        E-Scholars rebrands, extending Regnier legacy deeper into influential UMKC accelerator

        By Tommy Felts | September 3, 2025

        E-Scholars — the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s flagship accelerator program — isn’t going anywhere, Alex Matlack shared, but it is getting a rebrand. After listening to feedback from alumni, mentors, and community members, the program formally known as Entrepreneurship Scholars is now the Regnier Venture Accelerator, joining the likes of the Regnier Venture Creation Challenge…