All Stories

Heidi Lehmann, Kenzen

2022 Startups to Watch: Kenzen builds safety in numbers as investor, customer base for its wearables heats up

By Tommy Felts / December 15, 2021

Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list, now in its seventh year recognizing founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2022’s companies. Click here to view the full…

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Jonaie Johnson, Interplay

2022 Startups to Watch: Interplay reimagines dog crating for the busy, but attentive, pet parent

By Tommy Felts / December 15, 2021

Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list, now in its seventh year recognizing founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2022’s companies. Click here to view the full…

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Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022

10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022

By Tommy Felts / December 15, 2021

Innovation in Kansas City knows no age or industry. From pre-seed stage startups to firms with dozens of employees, the leading edge of tech in the Heartland has taken root — and grown in unexpected forms. The future newsmakers showcased as part of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022 list each are…

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Sarah-Allen Preston, afloat

2022 Startups to Watch: afloat makes same-day gifting from local stores easy with soon-to-launch app

By Tommy Felts / December 15, 2021

Editor’s note: Startland News selected 10 Kansas City firms to spotlight for its annual Startups to Watch list, now in its seventh year recognizing founders and startups that editors believe will make some of the biggest news in the coming 12 months. The following is one of 2022’s companies. Click here to view the full…

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Annie Austen; photos courtesy of Annie Austen

Annie Austen reinvents herself as a KC jewelry maker without tarnishing her influencer brand

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2021

To reshape her 2020 “blahs and feelings,” social media lifestyle influencer Annie Austen picked up a pair of pliers. She’d been collecting jewelry-making kits for years — but never committed to putting the jump rings, clasps, charms, and other pieces together. An Etsy shop launched with her younger brother, Matthew, changed everything, as the two…

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Close-up of the Kansas City illustrated map by Mario Zucco, Kansas City Puzzle Company

Their KC company didn’t sell a single puzzle during the pandemic; today the best-sellers need restocked ASAP

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2021

The puzzle finally fits together this holiday season for Tim and Stefanie Ekeren as the couple discovers the missing pieces that kept Kansas City Puzzle Company boxed on the shelf for more than a year. The small business, based in Mission, Kansas, offers a line of 10 puzzles, most featuring Kansas City-area landmarks or illustrations…

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Idle Smart team: Kaley Lester, Brayden Jensen and Andrew Smith

How a KC partnership helped Idle Smart avoid a cold start that could’ve stalled its recovery

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2021

Editor’s note: The following story is sponsored by Academy Bank, a Kansas City based community bank, and is part of a series of features spotlighting some of the bank’s startup and small business partners. Wasted time is wasted money — a notion at the forefront of Idle Smart, a Kansas City IoT tech company built…

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Amy Goldman, The Brewkery, Lucky Elixir kombucha

This KC kombucha brewer brought back North America’s most mysterious tropical fruit; the time to taste it is ripe now

By Tommy Felts / December 11, 2021

When the forest starts to smell like bananas, it means the pawpaws are ready for harvesting, Amy Goldman shared.  “I’d never heard of pawpaws until last year when one of our farmer friends brought us a bunch of them. We tried them in our kombucha, and it sold out so fast. It was incredible. But…

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KC Streetcar stop ad for the Giving Machines at Crown Center

A service you never knew you needed: Buying chickens from a vending machine at the Mayor’s Christmas Tree

By Tommy Felts / December 10, 2021

As children gave life to the ice terrace above Friday, volunteers and shoppers were giving light to local and global charities at a newly placed installation of vending machines — stocked with donation opportunities, not snacks — at Crown Center. The hottest “selling” item so far in Kansas City: a trio of chickens for $18. Three Giving…

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Pastor Adrian and Vicky Roberson, KC United

New nonprofit surprises first-ever $20K ‘changemaker’ grant winner; he already knows how he’ll invest it 

By Tommy Felts / December 10, 2021

Pastor Adrian Roberson was initially too stunned to speak Thursday when he was awarded a $20,000 grant for KC United — a youth sports initiative he co-founded in 2009 with his wife Vicky. But the duo already have plans for the money: spreading blessings. “I want to say, ‘Glory to God,’” Adrian Roberson shared moments after…

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