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The Greeting Committee

‘Beats, beer, biologics’ coming to KC: Check out the bands set for Innovation Festival’s debut

By Tommy Felts / April 12, 2022

It might look like an indie rock music festival on the outside, but a just-announced, three-day event coming to Kansas City this summer is as much about the heartbeat of innovation in the region as the beats dropped by Grammy-nominated headliner Black Pumas, said Sonia Hall. “What we want to do is start to disrupt…

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Kara Lowe, KC Tech Council

Kara Lowe taking KC Tech Council helm as longtime CEO Ryan Weber departs

By Tommy Felts / April 12, 2022

The KC Tech Council will soon welcome a familiar face as its new leader, the organization announced Tuesday. Kara Lowe, the council’s longtime COO, will succeed Ryan Weber as CEO next month — putting her commitment to Kansas City’s tech sector on full display and allowing her contributions to the regions tech ecosystem to further shape…

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Cara Hennessy, Sarah-Allen Preston, and Morgan Miller, afloat

Made in KC partners with afloat to provide same-day gifting of exclusive care packages

By Tommy Felts / April 9, 2022

Kansas Citians can now get same-day delivery from the city’s largest local marketplace through afloat — a gifting app by one of the metro’s leading startups that allows community members to pick out and send neatly-packaged goods to their loved ones, said Sarah-Allen Preston. “We have always been huge fans of Made in KC, and…

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Heidi Lehmann and Michael Prewitt, Kenzen

Kenzen shortlisted for Webby Award; Here’s how you can help make this Startup to Watch a People’s Voice winner

By Tommy Felts / April 8, 2022

A Kansas City startup that’s gained accolades and hefty investment for its wearable health monitoring device is nominated for Best App and Software in the 26th Annual Webby Awards — the highest profile awards recognition for excellence on the Internet. “Nominees like Kenzen are setting the standard for innovation and creativity on the Internet,” said…

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Flight Schedule Pro

Overland Park aviation software firm flies in $31M growth equity investment from Austin

By Tommy Felts / April 8, 2022

Flight Schedule Pro — the maker of industry-leading cloud-based tech for flight schools, universities, and flying clubs — recently opened the hangar doors on $31 million in funding from an investor landing deals with fast-growing, bootstrapped software companies. Financial terms of the investment from Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm that boasts offices in Austin…

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Legalfit management team on a trip to Colorado; photo courtesy of Robert Zhou

Kansas legal tech startup’s exit unlocks opportunity to accelerate innovation, founder says

By Tommy Felts / April 8, 2022

An Overland Park startup developing intuitive websites and marketing solutions for small law firms says its just-announced acquisition by a leading cloud-based legal operations platform is the verdict needed to push its services to mid-market clients and beyond. “Combining the best-in-class websites with practice management software unlocks a unique opportunity to deepen product integration and…

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Frank James Jr., Pro X, and Quinton Lucas, Kansas City mayor, during an announcement event for the 2022 Pro X student internship

Real-world working: Relaunched initiative will put 500 paid teen interns into KC workplaces

By Tommy Felts / April 6, 2022

A coalition of funders and employers are teaming up to provide 500 high school students across the Kansas City metro with paid summer professional experiences. “It’s really important that we come together as a community for these types of initiatives to make sure our young people are really connecting the dots and moving onto the…

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Hays Bailey, SHEQSY, and Luke Anear, SafetyCulture

SafetyCulture acquires safety app for decentralized frontline workers who often go it alone

By Tommy Felts / April 6, 2022

A global workplace operations company with its U.S. headquarters in Kansas City on Tuesday announced the acquisition of SHEQSY, a cloud-based lone worker safety app — a move meant to address an underinvestment in frontline processes, enablement, and emerging technologies, said Luke Anear. “Frontline workers make up 80 percent of our global workforces,” said Anear,…

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Kharissa Forte, Holistic Hustle, Grace & Grind; photo by Lexi Holifield

Cut the code-switching: Honor yourself if you want to be ‘authentic’ in the workplace (Holistic Hustle)

By Tommy Felts / April 6, 2022

Kharissa Forte is a writer, certified health coach, and columnist for Startland News. Read her “Holistic Hustle” columns for Startland News here. For more of her self-care tips on how to keep your cup full, visit graceandgrind.co. “Just be yourself.” Along with putting my best foot forward and always treating others the way I wanted…

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Nick Smith, Saile

Startup embraces ‘digital labor’, creating personalized robots for tedious tasks — beginning with cold calls

By Tommy Felts / April 2, 2022

Salespeople spend too much time searching for emails, making cold calls and setting up meetings — leaving less energy for comprehensive conversations and closing deals, said Nick Smith. His solution: robots for salespeople or, as he calls them, “Sailebots.”  “One day I had a revelation that there could be a tool for these mundane tasks.…

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