News

Hank Breckenridge, NAMA

Real-time translator: Shawnee Mission East grad uses Reddit to launch language-learning messaging app 

By Tommy Felts / February 13, 2021

A family move to Mumbai in his early teens gave Hank Breckenridge an appreciation for unfamiliar surroundings, the young entrepreneur from Leawood said. “While I lived in India, I got super interested in learning about different cultures and little bits of different languages. I had friends from 13 different countries and actually learned how to…

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West Bottoms Whiskey

Destination whiskey: A newly bottled West Bottoms distillery sees KC barreling toward old fashioned fame

By Tommy Felts / February 12, 2021

Innovation is intoxicating, Michael Hopkins said, pouring the story behind a newly-distilled whiskey company that hopes to do its part to put Kansas City grains on the maker’s map.  “The more distilleries, the more Kansas City is going to get recognized for [its whiskey],” said Hopkins, one of three business partners behind West Bottoms Whiskey,…

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Colleen Monroe, Floraloom

Floraloom’s Colleen Monroe put her green thumb on the steering wheel, leaving LA for KC sunshine

By Tommy Felts / February 12, 2021

Quarantine changed people — including Colleen Monroe, the serial entrepreneur said, looking back on the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic in Los Angeles and the day she loaded her car with a few personal belongings and as many vases as it could hold. Uprooting her once-busy life, she hoped growth opportunities might bloom in…

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Dr. Shelley Cooper, SureShow; Parker Graham, Finotta; Chris Jones, MatchRite Care; Lauren Lawrence, Stenovate; Nomi Smith, PMI Rate Pro; and Clarence Tan, Boddle

Meet the new class: KC’s top emerging founders power Pipeline’s latest high-profile fellowship

By Tommy Felts / February 12, 2021

Pipeline’s new class of fellows more accurately reflects the real diversity of the Midwest, said startup veteran Dusty Reynolds, introducing a virtual Pipeline audience to 13 entrepreneurs joining the group’s elite ranks. “This is an absolutely stacked class,” said Reynolds, co-founder of Omaha-based RaceNote, founder of HeavyNote, and Pipeline’s 2015 Innovator of the Year. “I…

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Vaccine Pods exterior

Innovation unplugged: KC company’s ultra-cold tech could preserve vaccines, save lives

By Tommy Felts / February 10, 2021

Despite playing a critical, specific role in the fight against COVID-19, one North Kansas City tech startup could be a shot in the arm of healthcare beyond the ongoing pandemic, said Edward Collins. “When COVID came about and affected so many people around me — I wanted to make a difference or at least do something…

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