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integrated roadways

Smart road startup Integrated Roadways launching IoT test lab with MoDOT

By Tommy Felts / December 6, 2016

The Missouri Department of Transportation is looking to Kansas City-based Integrated Roadways for its tech and Internet of Things insight. As part of a 15-year agreement, the firm will serve as the department’s “IoT broker” and will build and operate a testing lab that will enable Missouri to explore the top mobile-Internet innovations, Integrated Roadways…

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Startup Royal Loyal sells to Wichita coffee company

By Tommy Felts / December 6, 2016

Royal Loyal, which created an app to encourage loyalty at convenience and retail stores, sold to Wichita-based Prairie Fire Coffee, Royal Loyal CEO Babir Sultan said, declining to offer a monetary value. Royal Loyal’s app allows users to save money and earn free products at various gas stations, fast food and retail stores. The application…

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Sock 101 ‘makes it work’ on Project Runway, secures $250K

By Tommy Felts / December 6, 2016

Apparently, Kansas City socks have significant upside with investors. After an appearance on Lifetime’s “Project Runway: Fashion Start-up,” Kansas City-based Sock 101 recently landed $250,000 from two prominent fashionistas. Designer Rebecca Minkoff and Gary Wassner, co-founder of Interluxe Holdings, a venture capital group focusing on fashion and luxury brands, both invested in the sock startup.…

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TFA, AT&T deal will expand computer science education in KC

By Tommy Felts / December 5, 2016

Despite the growing number of computing job openings, only 1 in 4 U.S. schools offer computer science classes, according to the White House. To expand its computer science initiative, Teach for America Kansas City announced Monday that the organization received a donation of $100,000 from AT&T’s philanthropic arm, AT&T Aspire. The partnership’s goal is to…

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Mycroft AI

Montgomery: How to support KC startups with your IRA and 401(k)

By Tommy Felts / December 5, 2016

Mycroft co-founder Joshua Montgomery recently appealed to the 1 Million Cups community to launch Initiative Six to foster more early-stage investment in Kansas City. The opinions in the commentary are the author’s alone. I recently read yet another article lamenting the lack of investment by Silicon Valley in the Midwest. The author stated how great…

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Kansas program aims to create startups with public-private partnerships

By Tommy Felts / December 2, 2016

A new Kansas program is tapping universities to incentivize residents to launch more startups through public-private partnerships. The Kansas Department of Commerce recently kicked off “JumpStart Kansas Entrepreneurs” in the hopes that it will spur economic growth in the Sunflower State via early-stage firms. “The program is designed to stimulate and grow the economy from…

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Humanizing text analysis, Stride marches to international growth

By Tommy Felts / December 2, 2016

Computers can do a lot these days, but they can’t process feelings. After all, that’s what sets humans apart from machine — right? Not necessarily it seems, as one Kansas-City based artificial intelligence firm is challenging that notion with its text-analyzing tech that not only identifies subjects but also a writer’s sentiment. A graduate of…

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Idle Smart earns $125K in national clean energy program

By Tommy Felts / December 1, 2016

Idle Smart recently was dubbed a top clean-energy firm and won some substantial investment capital for its technology. Based in Kansas City, Kan., the company was voted by its peers as the top firm in the Energy: US 2016 program, nabbing $125,000 for its smart thermostat device for fleet vehicles, such as semi-trucks. The company’s…

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With KC startup Edcoda, students learn as wizard saviors

By Tommy Felts / December 1, 2016

Across the U.S., student engagement is declining. By the time students reach high school, 2 out of 3 them will become disengaged, according to Gallup’s 2015 figures. But one Kansas City-based startup is working to change that by making fun a top priority. Edtech startup Edcoda created the 3D, online role-playing game Coda Quest, which…

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KCK opens up data portal for transparency, ‘public good’

By Tommy Felts / December 1, 2016

In an effort to increase transparency and improve services, the City of Kansas City, Kan. is offering access to large swaths of public data via a portal that makes the information more digestible. Thanks to a new open data administrative order, KCK launched its new data portal Thursday for residents to see such information as…

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