Minority-Led

Serial tech entrepreneur, ecosystem builder develops app to help turn everyday purchases into charitable donations

By Tommy Felts / August 26, 2021

Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial supporter of Startland News. This story was produced independently by Startland News’s nonprofit newsroom. Operating a nonprofit taught Quest Moffat that it’s easier to raise programming dollars than it is to raise operating dollars — and a lack of the latter brings unexpected stressors, he…

Why Nina Whitmore left Corporate America to fight fast fashion (The answer is pretty black and white)

By Tommy Felts / August 26, 2021

When Nina Whitmore was in elementary school, she always wore culottes — flowy cropped pants that are now back in style. They were easiest for her mother to sew, even though Whitmore would have preferred to wear jeans like the other kids, she said. Her interest in fashion began as a tween, when she paged…

Firebrand Ventures closes $40M seed fund for ‘authentic’ founders in emerging communities; adds Leo Morton as advisor

By Tommy Felts / August 26, 2021

A year after two prominent venture capital firms announced their merger, the consolidated Firebrand Ventures II is officially closed — reaching its $40 million target and having already invested in startups from Detroit, Seattle and Toronto. “Several years ago we raised our first funds — Boulder-based Blue Note Ventures and Kansas City-based Firebrand Ventures I —…

Grandview-based battery innovator — Evergy Ventures’ first investment — exiting to global power player

By Tommy Felts / August 23, 2021

A Kansas City-area startup developing next-generation scalable lithium-ion battery storage systems for land, sea and air is being acquired by a global power management leader, the companies announced Monday. Financial terms of the transaction — through which Grandview-based Spear Power Systems will add its power and talent to Sensata Technologies — were not disclosed. The…

The Future is Black: Storytelling duo launches effort to inspire new generation of creatives, entrepreneurs

By Tommy Felts / August 20, 2021

The future is Black and Dominic Davis wants Kansas City to know it, he said, announcing the launch of a new campaign aimed at better connecting and supporting entrepreneurs and creatives of color.  “When one of us wins, we all win,” Davis said, detailing his decision to found The Future is Black (TFIB) — a storytelling…