2023 is about ‘going deeper’: Startups to Watch gathers founders from streetwear, tech to NFTs, Esports (Event Photos)
January 25, 2023 | Channa Steinmetz
Storytelling brings communities together, said Austin Barnes, as nearly 200 of the region’s corporate, small business and startup leaders gathered for Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023 reception and awards presentation.
Trophies built by Kansas City-based Collective EX for Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023 reception at MADE MOBB
“Startups to Watch is an opportunity for Startland News to do what it does best — amplify the story of entrepreneurship and connect rising companies to valuable resources in our community,” said Barnes, the executive editor of Startland News. “It comes at a time when our newsroom is doubling down on its commitment to being an example of quality journalism and providing outlets for readers to connect with the people we cover. We’re firm believers in news engagement, and this event is our way of creating such opportunities for Kansas Citians.”
RELATED: Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023
The event was organized Tuesday at MADE MOBB — one of the Startups to Watch in 2023 honorees — within the apparel brand’s storefront in the Crossroads Arts District.
“When we moved into this bigger space three years ago, our idea was to host more,” said Vu Radley, one of the founders of MADE MOBB, during the event. “… It’s been so dope to meet the other Startups [To Watch founders] and see our similarities as well as our differences. I met a few people at this event who I likely wouldn’t have had the chance to connect with — 2023 is about connecting, reconnecting and going deeper into those relationships.”
Mark Launiu, MADE MOBB, Channa Steinmetz, Startland News, and Vu Radley, MADE MOBB, during Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023 reception at MADE MOBB
View this post on Instagram
One Startup to Watch founder has already made headlines in the first month of 2023.
Randy Wasinger, Mary Wasigner, and Ryan Wasinger, of CryptoSlam, talk with Dough Adams, Morgan Stanley, during Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023 reception at MADE MOBB
Randy Wasinger, the founder and CEO of CryptoSlam, announced earlier this month the merger of CryptoSlam and Forkast.News. The deal is expected to create a first-of-its-kind Web3-focused data intelligence and media platform called Forkast Labs.
“I’m excited to show the world where we’re taking this and the product that manifests when you merge the data with the media component,” Wasinger said. “This merger allows us to bring clarity to the chaos, and we will be sharing some more exciting announcements coming up.”
Click here to read more about CryptoSlam’s merger with Forkast.News.
Attendees of Tuesday’s event came together to network, celebrate and watch the premier of a collection of video interviews with the Startups to Watch founders. The video features were created in partnership with Social Apex Media.
“I personally really enjoyed hearing the stories of all of the other founders,” Wasinger shared. “When you’re in the trenches — and going through a lot of highs and lows — there’s not a lot of networking. So just having this opportunity to listen to everybody’s stories has been very motivating and inspiring to me.”
Check out one of 10 video interviews shown during Tuesday’s reception below, then keep reading.
The video interviews highlighted at the reception were filmed at Spark Kansas City, a coworking space in the Power and Light District and home to Startland News’ nonprofit newsroom. Spark has been a partner of Startland News since 2021, with the two organizations sharing the mission of creating a strong ecosystem for Kansas City’s entrepreneurial community, said Lindsay Knetter, the community manager at Spark.
“Community is everything — especially in our space — and when the Startland News team hosts interviews, events and filming at Spark, we become a small piece of the growing entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Knetter said. “We are so happy to be a part of it and look forward to supporting KC as a catalyst for innovation through our creative space, network and community members.”
Other supporters of the Startups to Watch in 2023 reception included the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Bank of America, and Morgan Stanley, along with resource partner Crux KC.
Click here to check out the full list of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023.
Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023
[slide-anything id=”691097″]
Featured Business
2023 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Solar-powered wearable Eclipse Rx puts sundown on skin cancer exposure
A doctor’s startup, Eclipse Rx, hopes to make skin cancer history. The Kansas City-based company, plans to release a solar-powered, sun-monitoring wearable this summer that will provide users with information about the level of sun they are receiving and how to prevent injury. The wearable communicates with a phone that will send alerts and information,…
IXKC: Racial bias conversation puts white faces in an awkward spot — the minority
Editor’s note: Check out photos from this event below the story. White people have to understand that they’ll never understand, said Lora McDonald. “White people only have to be ‘white’ when they’re in a room with other races. When they aren’t, they get to be individuals, not just a monolithic group,” she told a diverse…
Dimensional Innovations scores with massive Target Center design overhaul
Amid the hustle of a Minnesota Timberwolves game, fans peer through a glass floor at passersby in a lobby below. Looking up, a giant, neon-colored basketball sculpture looms overhead. It’s a moment created for curiosity and connection — designed by Overland Park’s Dimensional Innovations. Extending through multiple floors of the four-story Target Center in Minneapolis,…
SafetyCulture raises $45.5M Series C funding round
SafetyCulture, an Australia-based firm whose North American headquarters is located in Kansas City, announced a huge funding round Monday to advance its tech platform focused on workplace safety. The tech firm raised a $45.5 million Series C round led by New York investment firm Tiger Global Management. Other investors include previous backers, including Blackbird Ventures,…