All Stories

Ebbie

ebbie navigates journey from established insurance industry to tech startup mode

By Tommy Felts / December 7, 2018

Olathe-based ebbie is injecting innovation into the risk-averse insurance industry, said Brian Hess. “We looked for spaces where we could come in and say, ‘We can make this a lot better,’” said Hess, operations officer at ebbie. “Fast forward to now, and we went through the development phase and the build, and we have successfully…

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Edgar Palacios, Latinx Education Collaborative

KCultivator Q&A: Edgar Palacios talks Latinx representation, his ballsy inspiration

By Tommy Felts / December 7, 2018

Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by WeWork Corrigan Station, a modern twist on Kansas City office space. Proportionate cultural and ethnic representation can be life-altering for young people — especially in the classroom, said Edgar Palacios.…

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SavR

More than a Fountain City vacation: SavR bringing US headquarters to Kansas City

By Tommy Felts / December 7, 2018

Kansas City’s startup culture and support network helped the City of Fountains land the new U.S. headquarters of Australia-based SavR, said founder Tim O’Shea. “If you’re a company that’s trying to strive for genuine outcome, then you’ll be very well received [in Kansas City],” he said. “I think Midwestern people tend to ferret out the…

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Wesley Hamilton, Disabled But Not Really

App to help flex Disabled But Not Really reach beyond KC gyms, says Wesley Hamilton

By Tommy Felts / December 6, 2018

A new fitness and wellness app is expected to help Disabled But Not Really go global with its impact, said Wesley Hamilton. “This app is going to benefit those that cannot go through our program but are still determined to learn and change their physical well being,” said Hamilton, founder and executive director of the…

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Pepper IoT

Pepper teams with Switzerland cyber security expert to combat ‘terrifying’ IoT threats

By Tommy Felts / December 6, 2018

A new, long-term collaboration between KC-based Pepper IoT and an international leader in digital security has an opportunity to aggressively boost consumer confidence in the rapidly expanding — and potentially hostile — Internet of Things, said Scott Ford. “It is terrifying to see millions of vulnerable connected devices being distributed to U.S. consumers who have…

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Vanessa Lacy Gallery

Artist incubator paints scene of blissful collaboration in far-from-lonely West Bottoms space

By Tommy Felts / December 5, 2018

Vanessa Lacy’s artist incubator eliminates “the lonely artist,” she said, noting her gallery model replaces solitude with creative relationships and a collaborative community. “Artists tend to get very isolated in their studio spaces working on their own; then they have a relationship with a gallery that’s really more of a business relationship,” said Lacy, owner…

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Menufy

Order here: Menufy online restaurant platform delivers results, food from OP startup

By Tommy Felts / December 5, 2018

Servicing the online orders of more than 300 restaurants in the Kansas City metro, Overland Park-based Menufy is scaling its platform across the U.S., while maintaining a startup mindset, said Ashishh Desai. “Even though now we have over 4,000 restaurants nationwide — every state but Vermont and in 1,200 cities — we still have that…

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Kauffman survey

Take the Kauffman survey: Is KC’s startup culture welcoming and inclusive to all?

By Tommy Felts / December 4, 2018

Perception shapes reality, said organizers of a survey that seeks greater understanding of Kansas City’s startup culture. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s 2018 Entrepreneurship in Kansas City survey checks the pulse of the local entrepreneurial ecosystem by raising specific questions about culture and practice in workplaces across the metro, said John Quinterno and Julie Marks,…

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Ronnie Washington, Onward

Onward scores $1M grant from Chan Zuckerberg Initiative for payday loan end-run

By Tommy Felts / December 4, 2018

Everyone needs a financial cushion, said Ronnie Washington — even a fintech startup offering low- to moderate-income workers a path to avoid predatory lending practices, the Onward founder said. A member of KC-based Fountain City Fintech’s inaugural cohort, Onward is one of 10 companies from across the U.S. and Puerto Rico being awarded $1 million…

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David Hulsen and Stuart Ludlow, co-founders of RFP360

Top startup ‘RFP360’ tweaks name in rebrand to reflect 360-degree approach to its market

By Tommy Felts / December 4, 2018

A rebranding effort announced Tuesday aims to clarify the way RFP360 is perceived by potential customers bogged down by procurement and bidding processes, said David Hulsen. The Kansas City-based company, which streamlines the repetitive and arduous request for proposal (RFP) process with a software-as-a-service platform, hopes its new name and tagline — “Grab Life by…

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