No Coast winners: Two rapidly growing KC tech startups championed
March 9, 2019 | Tommy Felts
Tech leadership and innovation know No Coast, said Ryan Weber Friday night as the KC Tech Council revealed its inaugural award show honorees.
The Abbott
Beneath the glittering chandeliers of the Abbott luxury event space — and surrounded by elaborate set pieces and balloon art — Weber and the KC Tech Council team announced winners in four No Coast categories that enveloped industry, policy and workforce.
Startup faces taking home prizes included a Martin City-headquartered cyber security powerhouse, Fishtech Group, and the driving force behind Merriam-based sports tech firm, ShotTracker.
Click here to learn about how Fishtech is securing its place in a threat-filled market.
Click here for more on why ShotTracker was selected as one of Startland’s Startups to Watch in 2019.
“The story of Kansas City’s tech industry is being written at a rapid pace,” said Karen Hornig, CEO of KC-based insurance information tech services firm NIPR, introducing the Outstanding Contribution to Tech Award. “The story of the region’s future as a technology hub will be written by many of the people and organizations in this room.”
Danielle Feinberg, Pixar Animation Studios
Friday’s family-focused No Coast celebration featured a number of youth award presenters, as well as a lively crowd of children in the audience. Fittingly, a keynote illuminated by Danielle Feinberg, a director of photography at Pixar Animation Studios, focused heavily on Feinberg’s experience working on such hit family films as “Wall-E” and “Coco.”
Loving that the @KCTechCouncil has embraced #InternationalWomensDay throughout their #nocoast19 event, featuring a female speaker, engaging women and girls, and making the event explicitly kid-friendly. And also, not pink. Tech event organizers, take note. #startupkc #techkc pic.twitter.com/WzsuvQ0heN
— Melissa Roberts (@msmeliss2024) March 9, 2019
“We hope to make our attendees feel comfortable to bring kids, nieces, nephews, you name it, because there’s going to be a great opportunity for them to experience the tech that’s created in Kansas City and be inspired,” Weber said before the event, which began with an interactive tech showcase featuring such KC companies as Dimensional Innovations, Garmin, VMLY&R, WeWork and Fishtech Group.
No Coast award winners included:
Outstanding Contribution to Tech
(Finalists: Alphapointe; and Stackify)
Kara Lowe, KC Tech Council; Jennie Hanna and Valerie Sablin, Fishtech Group
Tech Connector of the Year
Davyeon Ross, co-founder and COO, ShotTracker
(Finalists: Greg Kratofil, managing partner, Polsinelli; and Matt Watson, founder, Stackify)
Ryan Weber, KC Tech Council; Ryder Jarrett, student intern; Jeff Portsche, Garmin; and Davyeon Ross, ShotTracker
Tech Champion of the Year
Brian Baker, lead government strategist, Cerner
(Finalists: Bob Bennett, chief innovation officer, City of KCMO; and Travis Fitzwater, member, Missouri House of Representatives)
Brian Baker, Cerner
Tech Educator of the Year
Jill Riffer, Blue Valley CAPS
(Finalists: Kevin Clevenger, Blue Springs School District; and Lisa Oyler, Summit Technology Academy)
Antonio Linhart, student; Jill Riffer, Blue Valley CAPS; and Ryan Weber, KC Tech Council
Featured Business
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
‘Fan favorite’ among KC startups joining Wichita cohort; the prize: a playbook for reaching corporate customers
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. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. WICHITA…
None More Lonesome: Creative’s expression takes new form as ‘street art meets pop art meets tattoo flash’
Growing up in Olathe, Brett Crawford doesn’t really remember many places for local artists to put their work on display, he said. But times have changed and the artist and musician, who moved back to the Kansas City area during the pandemic, will see his None More Lonesome collection of paintings on display at Mean…
Rapidly scaling PayIt raises another $90M amid ‘long-overdue transformation’ of govtech
Growth and continued innovation are on the docket as Kansas City-filed PayIt closes a $90 million funding round. Led by the global firm Macquarie Capital Principal Finance, the capital injection is expected to keep fueling PayIt’s commitment to simplify the way people interact with the public sector in everyday places like the DMV and court…
Outside look from the inside: What a visiting economic fellow found in KC (rival BBQ is just a taste)
After spending his summer in Kansas City, the metro reminds Alvin Gusman a lot of his hometown, Austin, he said. The Texas A&M student is in the last two weeks of his 10-week Equity in Economic Development Fellowship with the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City (EDCKC), reflecting on the experience. “I’ve actually really enjoyed…