All Stories

Rania Anderson, OneKC for Women

Women hold key to overcoming innovation gap, talent shortage, says OneKC for Women

By Tommy Felts / October 30, 2018

OneKC for Women designed its November event for men, said Rania Anderson. “Winning at Work” is a chance for male business owners and entrepreneurs to improve results by changing the way they interact with women in the workplace, she added. “There is an opportunity for business leaders in Kansas City to get some ideas on…

Read More >

New investor report: Women-led startups more likely to get angel support than VC backing

By Tommy Felts / October 30, 2018

Angel investors support 10-times more women-led companies than venture capital-backed investors, revealed a first-of-its-kind report by the Kansas City-based Angel Capital Association. “It didn’t shock us,” said Marianne Hudson, executive director of the ACA, the world’s largest cohort of angel investors. Hudson cited previous ACA research that indicated 21 percent of angel investors had been…

Read More >
Steve Holle, KC Bier Co.

KC Bier Co. brewing regional expansion one tap handle at a time, founder says

By Tommy Felts / October 27, 2018

Rapid growth in the craft brewing market has tapped out, said Steve Holle, founder of KC Bier Co. A solid understanding of the reasons behind such an overdraught industry has so-far saved the Kansas City-based, German-style brewing company from being caught in the same weeds as recently closed Manhattan-brewed competitor, Tallgrass Brewing Co., Holle said.…

Read More >
SafeDefend

Former school principal’s SafeDefend active shooter system installed at Jewish Community Center, target of 2014 Overland Park shootings

By Tommy Felts / October 27, 2018

Every student, teacher and staff member deserves the greatest opportunity to get home from school safely, said Jeff Green, founder of SafeDefend. Green’s security solution — an active shooter response system that sends alerts throughout a school community, as well as detailed information to law enforcement, within seconds of an incident — recently was installed…

Read More >
Jeff Jones, H&R Block

H&R Block must reconnect with startup energy, innovation, CEO Jeff Jones says

By Tommy Felts / October 26, 2018

Jeff Jones’ journey to Kansas City — winding through hangouts with popstar Justin Timberlake, dinner with Oprah, and a stint driving one of the world’s most dominant sharing economy companies — has been transformative, the H&R Block CEO said. And if the homegrown corporate juggernaut he now leads is to meet its stretch potential, the…

Read More >
Ben Morss, Google

From Cake to Google: Musician-turned-tech leader composes career between keyboards

By Tommy Felts / October 25, 2018

Well into a music career — but noticing friends who were still trying to find gigs to make ends meet — Ben Morss faced a life-altering pivot. “I got sick of it and I turned to programming full time,” said Morss, a developer advocate at Google. “As a musician, I was trying to call people…

Read More >
Jeff Lynch, Idle Smart

Idle Smart posts Series A round with KCRise Fund, multimillion-dollar investment support

By Tommy Felts / October 24, 2018

A multi-million dollar investment round has Kansas City-grown Idle Smart revving its engine and accelerating toward rapid growth in 2019, revealed Jeff Lynch, company president. “I think it’s a reflection of what the team has been able to create over the past few years,” Lynch said of Idle Smart’s completion of a milestone Series A…

Read More >

LaunchKC winner Erkios: Hacking attacks will come from inside — Fortifi intellectual property

By Tommy Felts / October 24, 2018

Tinkering with old technology defined childhood for Philip Van Der Straeten, COO of Kansas City tech startup Erkios Systems. Such adventures could one day provide a nationwide payoff for his company, he said. “Our organization was built by tinkerers and critical thinkers attempting to break things down and get a better grasp of what they…

Read More >
WISE Power

WISE Power generates plans for 9,000-square-foot entertainment lounge at Hy-Vee Arena

By Tommy Felts / October 23, 2018

Hy-Vee Arena is the perfect place for a WISE Power demo site, said Brittany Williams, but it also is an opportunity to bring innovative leisure to Kansas City. The startup’s new showroom doubles as an entertainment lounge providing food, drink and virtual reality. “We figured we needed demo space — like the Tesla space on…

Read More >
Fast Democracy

Pure Pitch Rally winner says local investment will push Fast Democracy toward focus on KC politics

By Tommy Felts / October 23, 2018

Offering voters a crystal clear look at the legislative process is winning support for Fast Democracy within the Kansas City startup ecosystem, said Jill Kline, the CEO behind the evolving bill tracking platform. “This was always the roadmap. We started out with some of these basic features, wanting to help the general public get their…

Read More >
1MC-Digital-Attend-2460x318px-v1
Founders-Club-Banner-Ad-2

Join Founder's Club – Support Our Mission

Enjoy access to our email newsletter, members only Slack community, exclusive events and other member perks.