News

KC innovator’s anti-itch spray so natural it was discovered on a front porch lab

By Tommy Felts / September 21, 2022

Homindy founder Ronan Molloy discovered the benefits of his company’s itch relief spray somewhat by accident. During the summer of 2020, Molloy volunteered to participate in a clinical study for a tea with all-natural ingredients that was supposed to reduce inflammation in his right knee. At that time, he was president of the Innovation Stockyard,…

KC capital implants cattle tech startup with fuel to scale, expanding IVF labs, headcount 

By Tommy Felts / September 20, 2022

Livestock production has seen a remarkable transformation since Kerryann Kocher was growing up on her family’s sixth-generation farm in northeast Iowa, the Vytelle CEO said. Instead of just selecting the cow that looks best and bringing in the neighbor’s bull for breeding, as she remembers it, Kocher and Vytelle — a Kansas City-based precision livestock…

Venture experts: Getting your first check in KC is too difficult, but a record influx of coastal investors isn’t a bad substitute

By Tommy Felts / September 20, 2022

A new report on Kansas City’s venture-backed companies showed year-over-year growth in multiple areas — impressing industry experts who identified key investment trends in the data. More companies with venture capital backing; higher employee counts; a 58 percent boost in fundraising. Yet growth was not universal. Despite gains in top-line figures, the number of Kansas City-based…

RX Savings Solutions sale would see the startup acquired for up to $875M in KC’s biggest-ever exit

By Tommy Felts / September 19, 2022

The McKesson Corporation has agreed to purchase Overland Park-prescribed Rx Savings Solutions in a deal worth nearly $1 billion.  McKesson announced Monday that it had entered into an agreement with the prescription pricing startup valued at up to $875 million — more than double the $425 million price tag for which Kansas City-built Backlot Cars…

KC team developing tool to get low-income entrepreneurs online (and it just got a $240K boost)

By Tommy Felts / September 17, 2022

A collaborative project to “bridge the gap” in Kansas City’s digital divide secured one of the 2022 Heartland Challenge grants from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. PCs for People Kansas City (formerly Connecting for Good), in partnership with The Usher Garage and No-Where Consultants, will receive $240,000 in funding to be used over two years…