News

Carlanda McKinney, Bodify

Right fit, refined: Carlanda McKinney’s third venture in apparel measures up to its digital design

By Tommy Felts / June 22, 2021

Online shopping is a staple for Carlanda McKinney, she noted, but the inaccuracy and variety of size guides leave both shoppers and retailers with major pain points.  “On the shopper side, it is frustrating to order multiple sizes and not have anything fit your body the right way. … On the seller side, retailers are…

Read More >
OpenCities team

OpenCities sells: Denver govtech company acquires Australian startup with Kansas City HQ

By Tommy Felts / June 22, 2021

An Australia-based govtech startup with a sizable Kansas City operation has sold.  OpenCities — a hub-like platform that digitizes city forms and requests — was acquired by Denver-based Granicus, the companies announced Thursday, solidifying a deal that’s expected to better define what the future of civic engagement might looks like. Financial terms of the acquisition were not…

Read More >
Christopher and Ajia Morris, The Greenline Initiative

60 percent of Black residents on KC’s east side are renters: How one small biz hopes to reverse redlining’s hit to homeownership

By Tommy Felts / June 19, 2021

An investment in The Greenline Initiative is, on its face, an investment in the future of Kansas City’s historic and re-emerging east side, said Ajia Morris.  But there’s more to the effort than meets the eye, the effort’s co-founder explained, detailing ways she and her husband, Christopher, hope to uplift the metro’s Black community; a…

Read More >
Charon Thompson and Daniel Smith, the Porter House KC

C2FO donates all marketplace revenue it earned Friday to three KC nonprofits for Juneteenth

By Tommy Felts / June 19, 2021

Editor’s note: C2FO is a financial supporter of Startland News; and Kansas City G.I.F.T. is a non-financial partner of Startland, the parent organization of Startland News. This story was produced independently by Startland News’ non-profit newsroom. One of Kansas City’s biggest tech startups wanted to make Juneteenth a day of “action and awareness,” the company…

Read More >
Joey Mendez and Buck Wimberly, ULAH

Styling into women’s fashion, ULAH sees its next season in brand extensions, not duplicating stores

By Tommy Felts / June 18, 2021

When ULAH opens its first women’s store concept this fall, it’s expected to be just the first retail extension of the popular upscale men’s boutique — and a sign the brand is fine-tuning its niche after a major e-commerce shift. “We already have a huge customer base — and a lot of them are women,…

Read More >