Investors

Bo Lais, Lula

New $750K investment round for Lula comes with partner in apartment management

By Tommy Felts / February 5, 2019

Closing a $750,000 seed round is even more impactful with a strategic partner like Worcester Investments, said Lula founder Bo Lais. “We did have three other private investors, that were minority investors with two of them local, but it’s [become] more than just investment with [with Worcester],” said Lais, CEO of the Overland Park-based home…

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RNAissance Ag

Biopesticide AgTech building toward RNAissance with TechAccel cultivation

By Tommy Felts / January 29, 2019

KC-based TechAccel endeavors to guide startups through “the valley of death” stage that emerges after ideation, but before traction, said Brad Fabbri, noting the firm’s new venture, RNAissance Ag, is expected to disrupt the ag tech industry with environmentally-safe biopesticides. “We try to find products and help develop them to make [farmers’] lives easier and…

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‘Hardest deal is always the first one’ — Partnership adapts Motega Health tech for animal use

By Tommy Felts / January 25, 2019

A new licensing deal with Simini Technologies has unleashed disruptive potential for Lawrence-built Motega Health, the company announced Thursday. “We are very pleased to be partnering with Simini and their team and are excited by the energy and creative thinking they are bringing to the commercial process in veterinary medicine,” said Dr. Blake Hawley, founder…

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Photo courtesy of Evergy Ventures/Getty Images

Smart strategy generates wins for Evergy Ventures — KC’s quiet investment powerhouse

By Tommy Felts / January 22, 2019

Editor’s note: The following content is sponsored by Evergy Ventures but independently produced by Startland News. As two long-standing utility companies merge, they’re creating a new kind of energy for GXP Investments — now known as Evergy Ventures — said Dennis Odell, announcing a rebrand of the investment firm. “GXP Investments — GXP — it…

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John Fein

Firebrand Fein: KC needs more audacious startups, ‘crazy ideas’ to attract investors

By Tommy Felts / January 19, 2019

Kansas City companies need to buck the Midwestern, risk-averse mindset and sell audacious plans to investors, said John Fein. “I would just love to see more crazy ideas, more big game type ideas,” said Fein, founder and managing partner at Firebrand Ventures. “We invest when [the startup] starts to generate revenue, so they have to…

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