News

Angels in class: How Mizzou’s student-run venture course is investing up to $50K in real startups

By Tommy Felts / November 13, 2021

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. COLUMBIA,…

KC Tech Council program preps veterans to face new battle: Kansas City’s workforce

By Tommy Felts / November 11, 2021

Ian Whitehill went from military deployment to software bootcamp, waging a new career as a software engineering technologist at Lenexa-based Genuen thanks to KC Tech Council’s emerging apprenticeship program. “I always wanted to do something where I felt like I was contributing to society and the world around me. When I heard about the opportunity…

KC’s first Vietnamese coffee shop brews $20K at AltCap Your Biz; other winners include an urban farm, development company and selfie studio

By Tommy Felts / November 11, 2021

Cafe Cà Phê can now afford to build bathrooms in its anticipated brick-and-mortar coffee location, Jackie Nguyen teased on Instagram after being awarded the grand prize at the 2021 AltCap Your Biz: Pitch Competition. “The $20,000 will go toward helping build that out — getting new appliances, [hiring] new employees because we’ve outgrown our cart.…

Leawood firm partners with BestyBnB on tech platform to protect domestic violence survivors, their pets

By Tommy Felts / November 11, 2021

Fresh off news of its $2 million investment by a local businesswoman and prominent animal advocate, Kansas City-based startup BestyBnB this week announced a new pet reservation tech platform — built by a company in neighboring Leawood. Available on mobile and desktop, the BestyBnB web-based platform enables DV shelters to search and secure long- and short-term…

KC Velocity launches as re-imagined Lee’s Summit accelerator goes metro-wide

By Tommy Felts / November 11, 2021

An entrepreneur-backed support organization for early stage founders and business leaders across Kansas City went live this week — the culmination of an intensive rebranding campaign for an accelerator previously geared specifically to Lee’s Summit. “KC Velocity is focused on matching growing businesses with experienced, invested experts in a variety of essential capacities including finance, accounting,…