Photos: Innovation Exchange returns with Top KC Startups to Watch celebration
February 28, 2018 | Startland Staff
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!
Featured Business

2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Kansas City ESO icon Maria Meyers championed for bringing SourceLink to the world stage
A decades-long effort to grow inclusive entrepreneurial communities by strengthening access to critical resources began as a grassroots movement in Kansas City, said Maria Meyers, whose work recently earned her global recognition — and a rare honor in recent years for an American recipient. Meyers, the founder of SourceLink — a first-of-its-kind platform boasting more…
How this startup founder earned $200K in unrestricted, trust-based funding to transform KC’s relationship to food
Long-term community change comes one meal at a time, acknowledged one of Attane Health’s biggest supporters, reflecting on the Kansas City startup’s growth from the “spark of an idea to a full-fledged solution” — ultimately earning its founder a game-changing funding boost. The St. Louis-based Missouri Foundation for Health this month announced its inaugural Spark Prize…
Kauffman awards $5.8M funding pipeline to research how to close wealth gaps in KC, beyond
Eight newly announced research grants from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation are expected to help catalyze research-based efforts aimed at growing equitable economic mobility in Kansas City, regionally, and nationally. More than $5.8 million in research funding will be disbursed over the next three years through this first round of grantmaking through Kauffman’s new research…
KC’s top emerging business is brewing more than just beer at 18th and Vine, owners say
Winning the Emerging Small Business Award is validation that Vine Street Brewing Co. — Missouri’s first Black-owned brewery — is tapped into what the community wants and needs, two of its owners said Tuesday. “It signifies we’re moving along with purpose and that we can really lean into our goals,” explained Annie McGinnis, co-owner and…










































































