All Stories

Continuing its hot streak, PayIt wins national pitch contest

By Tommy Felts / July 7, 2016

Government tech startup PayIt is on a roll. Only weeks after a earning a commendation from Amazon, the Kansas City-based firm recently won a national pitch competition as part of the annual United States Conference of Mayors. PayIt’s mobile and web app that streamlines citizens’ financial interaction with government agencies beat out dozens of other…

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virtual reality KCVR

Virtual reality hackathon to visualize next-generation ed tech tools

By Tommy Felts / July 7, 2016

Move over, gamers, virtual reality isn’t just for you anymore. Kansas City will soon host its first-ever virtual reality hackathon, and it’s all about classroom education. The Kansas City Virtual Reality club — which brings together the area’s virtual reality enthusiasts — is challenging virtual- and augmented-reality aficionados to create applications that can help educators…

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Pear Deck student engagement tech grows with KC expansion

By Tommy Felts / July 7, 2016

Kansas City is apparently a fertile area for burgeoning education tech startups. Iowa City-based Pear Deck recently opened a Kansas City office to help develop a sales team for its student engagement platform. And Kansas City’s history in supporting successful education tech firms helped Pear Deck leaders make the expansion decision. Pear Deck CEO Riley…

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Brexit

What ‘Brexit’ can teach us about startups

By Tommy Felts / July 5, 2016

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Zach and Andrew are both financial tech professionals at blooom. If you watch any financial news or follow anyone besides the Kardashians on Twitter, you probably heard that the U.K. faced its own version of armageddon when it recently voted itself out of…

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Joshua Montgomery

Joshua Montgomery: KC poised to be IoT-powered smart city leader

By Tommy Felts / July 5, 2016

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Most of the people I ask about the Internet of Things — or IoT — respond with visions of network-connected light bulbs or water sensors for their basements. They talk about fitness trackers or connected thermostats that help reduce energy costs. To me,…

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Never say die: KC forges ahead with bold transportation plan

By Tommy Felts / July 1, 2016

Kansas City’s bold ambitions for a next-generation transportation system may be down — but they’re not out. On June 22, Kansas City received news that it lost out on a $50 million award that would’ve revolutionized its transportation system. More than 120 public and private leaders collaborated on Kansas City’s pitch for the “Beyond Traffic,…

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KCSourceLink: Improving startups’ access to capital ‘a marathon, not a sprint’

By Tommy Felts / July 1, 2016

A year ago, KCSourceLink discovered that area early-stage investors need more connections with each other and the startups they fund. To that end, the entrepreneurial resource hub on Tuesday rallied an array of major investment groups that target startups in Kansas City, building the foundation of a more connected capital community. In total, 15 local…

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Events Preview: Lean Lab Friday Pitch Event

By Tommy Felts / June 30, 2016

There are a boatload of entrepreneurial events hosted in Kansas City on a weekly basis. Whether you’re an entrepreneur, investor, supporter or curious Kansas Citian, we’d recommend these upcoming events for you. WEEKLY EVENT PREVIEW   The Lean Lab Friday Pitch Event When: July 1 @ 4:00 pm – 5:00 pm Where: Sprint Accelerator Every Friday, each…

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Missouri Tech Corp. dishes $375K to Kansas City startups

By Tommy Felts / June 30, 2016

Two Kansas City startups are among a dozen firms in Missouri that have received a total of $2.1 million from the Missouri Technology Corporation. Kansas City-based tech firms PopBookings and Moblico both nabbed matching funds — $300,000 and $75,000 respectively — from the MTC that will boost their operations. “We are supporting Missouri’s thriving innovation…

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Science City merger to bolster local STEM education

By Tommy Felts / June 30, 2016

Officials leading the merger of two non-profit science organizations hope their combined efforts will translate to more STEM professionals in Kansas City. A science museum, Union Station’s Science City is merging with Kansas City-based Science Pioneers to offer complementary science events, activities and programs. The merger — which will be complete July 1 — aims…

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