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
KC Crew’s fall leagues set to be first players in overhauled Hy-Vee Arena
The newly renovated Hy-Vee Arena in Kansas City’s West Bottoms is like a giant sports coworking space, said Luke Wade. Coffee shops, restaurants, chiropractors, physical therapists, and other offerings are joining his adult sports and events company in the revamped former Kemper Arena facility, said Wade, founder of KC Crew. And although the arena officially…
KCMO provides welcoming spot for NY-based high-tech kennel startup, DogSpot
Kansas City stands out among 30 different DogSpot partner cities for cutting through bureaucracy to help startups grow, said Chelsea Brownridge. DogSpot — a service that delivers internet-connected, air-conditioned, standalone dog kennels for pet owners to “park” their dogs while, for example, shopping or running errands — teamed with the City of Kansas City, Missouri,…
Three fathers bring Whizz Bang potty-training game to market through Make48, Handy Camel
The Whizz Bang gamifies potty training and saves the bathroom floors of all parents, said Amy Gray. The device, which hooks on the underside of a toilet seat lid, emits a LED light target at the bottom the bowl. Once hit, the device plays musical praise, said Gray, the head of sales for Handy Camel,…
Reconciliation Services hopes to heal trauma in the heart of stigmatized Troost corridor
Commanded by Scripture, David Altschul journeyed into parts unknown, said his successor, Father Justin Mathews. In the mid-1980s, a philanthropic pull tugged at the heart of Altschul — a white, insurance salesman from Johnson County — and eventually led him into the distressed, history-rich neighborhoods that lined Troost Avenue on the east side of…










































































