Corporate

Hills Pet Nutrition research center groundbreaking in Topeka

Plug and Play accelerator gains another major animal health backer: Hill’s Pet Nutrition

By Tommy Felts / September 15, 2020

TOPEKA — Hill’s Pet Nutrition is the latest company to throw its support behind a new, Topeka-based animal health accelerator.  “For over a century, Hill’s Pet Nutrition has been a cornerstone in the Topeka business community. They continue to be at the forefront of innovation and are a key driver in Topeka’s role in the…

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Toby Rush and Carl Wasinger, Smart Warehousing

Veteran founder unboxes startup smarts as new CEO, eyeing logistics company as KC’s next billion-dollar biz

By Tommy Felts / September 10, 2020

Toby Rush enjoys disrupting the status quo, he said, questioning market strategies with the startup sensibilities that made him one of the region’s most successful entrepreneurs. As the new CEO of Smart Warehousing — an established, Kansas City-based logistics and supply chain company — the veteran startup founder plans to apply the same innovation-focused lens to…

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$100K in microgrants awarded across 23 struggling, but resilient minority businesses

By Tommy Felts / September 2, 2020

Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial sponsor of Startland News. This report was produced independently by Startland News’ nonprofit newsroom. [divide] A COVID-era resiliency fund that quickly closed applications after receiving a deluge of response from entrepreneurs in need has awarded microgrants to 23 minority businesses on both sides of the…

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Venture capital Kansas City

Kansas City’s Top VC-Backed Companies in 2020

By Tommy Felts / August 31, 2020

The 2020 Top Venture Capital-Backed Companies List reflects a range of success stories and COVID-era challenges among Kansas City’s community of growth-stage, venture-backed companies. [pullquote] More ahead The list of Kansas City’s Top VC-Backed Companies is the jumping-off point for a series of Startland News analysis pieces, breaking down some of the trends behind the…

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Goodwill

No Coast names finalists for KC’s premier tech champions; winners revealed Sept. 16

By Tommy Felts / August 26, 2020

Inspirational leaders impacting tech aren’t confined to the coasts — nor to a pre- or post-pandemic world, said organizers of the No Coast awards, pushing forward with plans to honor significant contributions to Kansas City’s tech community virtually this fall. “We all know someone who makes waves everywhere they go — someone who, whether they’re…

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