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PayIt, Kansas City

Experts: Coastal VCs getting FOMO on Kansas City; PayIt’s $100M+ investment proves it

By Tommy Felts / March 29, 2019

Landing more than $100 million in funding is no small feat for PayIt — or any startup, John Thomson said with a mix of humble confidence. “Wins beget wins, and it helps to build the ecosystem,” said Thomson, CEO and co-founder of PayIt. Click here to read more about PayIt’s investment from Insight Partners. For Thomson,…

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ChowNow kansas city

LA-based ChowNow hungry for its new Crossroads regional office, KC tech talent

By Tommy Felts / March 29, 2019

Order up! Los Angeles based ChowNow is ready to serve the Kansas City startup space, Candice Taylor said as the company prepares to open its first regional office in the Crossroads Arts District. “It’s really important for us to be somewhere that has an amazing [food] scene and there’s certainly no shortage of incredible local…

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Ryan Weber, KC Tech Council

Federal data privacy laws are coming; Here’s what you should consider

By Tommy Felts / March 29, 2019

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Ryan Weber, KC Tech Council president, on Tuesday testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on “Small Business Perspectives on a Federal Data Privacy Framework.” I recently had the privilege of testifying before a U.S. Senate Subcommittee, chaired by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas,…

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PayIt team

‘Transformative’ $100M+ investment for PayIt means KC GovTech startup will boost hiring

By Tommy Felts / March 28, 2019

A massive investment from a New York-based venture capital and private equity firm is expected to help push Kansas City GovTech startup PayIt to 120 employees by the end of 2019, John Thomson said. “We’re already growing at a pretty good clip, and this will really help us accelerate R&D, serving more clients, and putting…

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John Thomson, PayIt CEO and co-founder

PayIt announces $100M+ funding round from single investor

By Tommy Felts / March 28, 2019

Simplifying government services through tech just got easier for Kansas City-based startup PayIt. All thanks to a funding round of more than $100 million, the company announced Thursday. UPDATED: ‘Transformative’ $100M+ investment for PayIt means KC GovTech startup will boost hiring PayIt — named one of Startland’s 10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2018 — received the…

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Matt Condon, Bardavon

Time for apathy is over, Condon says; Advocates make business case for Pre-K funding

By Tommy Felts / March 27, 2019

Kansas City’s unequal playing field for children and inconsistent access to early education programs has a distinct ripple effect into the business community, Matt Condon said, advocating for Mayor Sly James’ Pre-K for KC initiative. “I don’t make any apologies about what a great city this is. But on this issue in particular, we are…

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Myron McCant, Kiddie Depot Learning Academy

$4M childcare center on Prospect could be pivotal for urban core development

By Tommy Felts / March 27, 2019

Students who grow up in Kansas City’s urban core shouldn’t be denied access to a quality education based on their address, Myron McCant said as he thumbed through renderings of a 15,000-square-foot learning space that could soon grant such students access to a brighter future. “If you would come into my facility, then you would…

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Next KCMO mayor needs this personality trait to build trust, Sly James says

By Tommy Felts / March 26, 2019

The role of mayor doesn’t always require being “the lead dog on the sled,” said Sly James. Rather, it’s an opportunity for a bridge between those knowledgeable enough to make change, the outgoing KCMO mayor added. “I sit in a position where — let’s say generally, not always — when I call, people call me…

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KCMO mayor vote

KCMO mayoral vote: Confused? Undecided? Seven FAQs for those still on the bubble

By Tommy Felts / March 26, 2019

Amid nearly three dozen Kansas City mayoral candidate forums, Startland readers raised a round of questions — some easy to answer, others loaded  — but each invested in seeing who will emerge from the shadow of popular, bow tie-wearing mayor, Sly James, to lead KCMO. Here’s a breakdown of the most frequently asked questions about…

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Steve Miller, StartupKC Small Business and Entrepreneurship Mayoral Forum

Candidates agree: KCMO needs an entrepreneurial mind in the mayor’s office … but what does that mean?

By Tommy Felts / March 26, 2019

Kansas City was born of an entrepreneurial spirit, said Steve Miller. “We were all in the spirit head of the Westward Expansion, and [were] entrepreneurs from the very beginning,” said Miller, candidate for the Kansas City, Missouri, mayor, last month during the StartupKC Small Business and Entrepreneurship Mayoral Forum. “We need a mayor that has…

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