Government

Kansas City marijuana

KCMO ready to do business with marijuana startups; entrepreneurs of color see ‘catalyst for empowerment’

By Tommy Felts / April 20, 2019

A green rush is soaking up sunshine in Missouri, and if attitudes of state officials, businesses owners and marijuana advocates are any indication, Kansas City is fertile ground for the movement. “We have a huge diversity of business opportunities,” said Rick Usher, KCMO assistant city manager for entrepreneurship and small business. Usher is spearheading the…

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Paws up! Scollar aims to fetch 200 jobs for KC, trades Silicon Valley for Animal Health Corridor

By Tommy Felts / April 18, 2019

Building a business in Silicon Valley might seem sexy — but it isn’t always the right choice, Lisa Tamayo said. “I don’t know what you guys hear about the Coast, but hardware is quite challenging for any company in the Bay area because a lot of these Silicon Valley folks in San Francisco only like…

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LaunchKC accelerator

New industry-specific LaunchKC accelerators expected to bring more dollars, winners

By Tommy Felts / April 8, 2019

Applications for this year’s LaunchKC program are going vertical, said Drew Solomon, announcing plans for three industry-specific accelerators — two of which will launch new funding-rich demo days in the fall. “We’ve always wanted to grow and expand not only the competition, but the program as a whole,” said Solomon, chair of the LaunchKC program.…

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PayIt, Kansas City

Experts: Coastal VCs getting FOMO on Kansas City; PayIt’s $100M+ investment proves it

By Tommy Felts / March 29, 2019

Landing more than $100 million in funding is no small feat for PayIt — or any startup, John Thomson said with a mix of humble confidence. “Wins beget wins, and it helps to build the ecosystem,” said Thomson, CEO and co-founder of PayIt. Click here to read more about PayIt’s investment from Insight Partners. For Thomson,…

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Ryan Weber, KC Tech Council

Federal data privacy laws are coming; Here’s what you should consider

By Tommy Felts / March 29, 2019

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Ryan Weber, KC Tech Council president, on Tuesday testified before a U.S. Senate subcommittee on “Small Business Perspectives on a Federal Data Privacy Framework.” I recently had the privilege of testifying before a U.S. Senate Subcommittee, chaired by U.S. Sen. Jerry Moran, R-Kansas,…

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