Photos: Innovation Exchange returns with Top KC Startups to Watch celebration

February 28, 2018  |  Startland Staff

IXKC TSW 2018 (28 of 76)

So … What’s your spirit animal?

Eleven startup founders and leaders joined Startland News and the Kansas City Startup Foundation on stage Tuesday for a rebooted Innovation Exchange experience — complete with casual conversation, jazz and few unexpected queries.

Saluting the Top Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2018, the rapid-fire, Q&A-style event showcased the innovative ideas behind the firms Startland thinks will be the year’s biggest newsmakers. Among the honorees were Plexpod, PayIt, Bardavon, Rx Savings Solutions, Swell Spark, Mycroft, Super Dispatch, Made in KC, RFP365, Ruby Jean’s Juicery, and Cambrian.

Plexpod’s Westport Commons coworking community literally set the stage for Innovation Exchange, with Startland and KCSF also tapping top startups Ruby Jean’s Juicery for food and drinks for about 175 guests, and Swell Spark for commemorative plaques for the honorees.

Huge thanks to our sponsors of the Innovation Exchange, including the Brain Family, NBKC, Polsinelli, GXP Investments, Plexpod and Think Big Partners.

Watch for details on the next Innovation Exchange, coming in March! In the meantime, enjoy photos from Tuesday’s event below.

Cheers!

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

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

2018 Startups to Watch

    stats here

    Related Posts on Startland News

    David Block, Block and Company Realtors

    Why a KC real estate icon is letting urban artists spray paint his high-profile Plaza building (again)

    By Tommy Felts | September 16, 2021

    A massive, five-story mural project launched on the Country Club Plaza in late 2020 will grow even bigger over the next week, painting the potential for more representation in an otherwise traditional — and earth tone — Kansas City shopping district and neighborhood.  “It adds a lot of conversation and excitement — and it shows an opportunity…

    Ryan Townsend, Hively

    Product without a pitch deck: How one startup tech veteran is seeding his new venture with ‘something real’ 

    By Tommy Felts | September 16, 2021

    Ryan Townsend has worked within some of Kansas City’s most headline-grabbing startups for years, but now he’s taking the lead with his product-driven venture Hively — focusing specifically on bringing a mobile-first solution to event management. “I’ve always been the technology guy,” Townsend said, referencing his time as chief technology officer at such companies as…

    Pipeline Entrepreneurs Donald Hawkins, First Boulevard, and Luke Lim, Tile Five

    Pipeline pilots new ‘Pathway’ cohort to boost womxn, minority, rural founders into scaling position

    By Tommy Felts | September 16, 2021

    Editor’s note: Pipeline Entrepreneurs, a network and fellowship of high-performing entrepreneurs in the Midwest, is a community partner and financial supporter of Startland News. A new fellowship program designed exclusively for underserved entrepreneurs is expected to help better prepare founders who identify as womxn, minority, or are leading a business in a rural community to…

    Golden Groves

    Exclusive listen: Coffee entrepreneur, bandmates tease new music, how they find harmony between notes

    By Tommy Felts | September 14, 2021

    Golden Groves was ready to pour its music for audiences in 2020, but when stages across the world — including Boulevardia in Kansas City — went dark, members of the local indie rock band refined their flavor. “Our collective history is with jazz and rock in roll, but we each bring in our own unique musical…