LISTEN: Meet the partners behind Plug and Play Topeka’s growth (and impact)
October 10, 2025 | Austin Barnes
On a special episode of Startland News’ 12-part podcast series diving deeper into Plug and Play, we explore how the Topeka-based program and its partners work to turn bold ideas into Kansas success stories.
Cole Ahlvers, NQV8 Fund, right, speaks on a panel at the Plug and Play Animal Health & AgTech Expo in Topeka; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Guests includes Bret Lanz from Kansas State University’s Technology Development Institute; John G. Brown of StenCo; and Cole Ahlvers from NQV8 Fund.
RELATED: Global startups plug into Topeka: How Kansas connections are powering their innovation
Together guests unpack collaboration across universities, corporations, and investment firms is accelerating innovation in the Midwest — fueling everything from advanced manufacturing to agtech and animal health.
Recorded live at the Plug and Play Animal Health & AgTech Expo in Topeka, hear how Plug and Play connects these players, why Kansas is quietly becoming a national hub for commercialization, and what it takes to turn breakthrough ideas into scalable companies.
Listen to a teaser below or click here for the full podcast episode.
Featured Business
2025 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Build-A-Bear founder joins VFA’s board, lauding group as an ‘onramp’ to entrepreneurship for overlooked young professionals
ST. LOUIS — A hometown founder and entrepreneurial icon is joining the board of one of the region’s premiere work placement opportunities for early-career professionals. Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop — the teddy-bear-themed retailer she launched in 1997 in St. Lous — is the latest appointment to the national board of directors for Venture…
Leveraging KC’s resources: How the right people at the right time can unlock a startup’s potential
The level of collaboration seen in Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is unmatched by peer communities, said Jill Meyer, noting it’s not a phenomenon that developed by accident. And it takes transparency and trust, she added. “There is a lot of work that resource partners do to make sure that our companies and our founders have…
Looking for investors? A startup’s first ask shouldn’t be for money, leading VCs say
Most startup founders think of funding as transactional, Darcy Howe shared, but it’s actually relational. “You’ve got to have relationships with people long before they’ll fund and that includes angels and all the others,” the KCRise Fund founding managing director told a crowd gathered at UMKC’s Bloch Executive Hall for Startland News’ Kansas City Startups…
This meal is metal: Elephant Wings rocks concert of flavors with chef’s Indian fusion setlist
Ameet Malhotra’s just-released cover of Indian fusion is fuel to the fire of that which diners’ desire, the chef and owner of Elephant Wings said. Newly opened this month at Parlor KC in the Crossroads, two of the restaurant’s popular menu items include Malhotra’s tikka masala poutine and the Bombay-mi — his version of the…