News

Crowdfunding sites won’t pay your medical bills, Sickweather CEO says, launching reciprocating donation platform

By Tommy Felts / June 10, 2019

Crowdfunding can help, but such tactics are unlikely to cover the medical bills of a person struggling with mounting healthcare costs, Graham Dodge said. “The unrealistic amount of self promotion needed to reach people outside your own personal network — which can happen if the media picks up on your story — is the main…

$50K inclusion grant to KCMO a step toward ‘most entrepreneurial city’ for everyone

By Tommy Felts / June 8, 2019

Kansas City, Missouri, pocketed a major win for the entrepreneurial community Wednesday, becoming one of 10 cities in the nation to be selected for the City Accelerator initiative for inclusive contract procurement. The city will receive a $50,000 grant by the Citi Foundations and Living Cities to increase the opportunities for firms owned by people…

Startup, investor, corporate worlds collide; Ron LeMay’s message for KC: Sit down and talk

By Tommy Felts / June 7, 2019

Ron LeMay wasn’t willing to watch entrepreneurs flee Kansas City to build their game-changing companies on the coasts, he recalled. “That’s a prescription for disaster over time,” LeMay, CEO of Main Street Data and managing director of Open Air Equity Partners, said of the way he viewed entrepreneurial progress in the City of Fountains as…

Nuts and bolts: Lenexa-forged Enduralock tech catches the eye of NASA, Shell

By Tommy Felts / June 7, 2019

A Lenexa-based startup is gathering accolades faster than a SpaceX rocket’s methane-fueled full flow staged combustion cycle. “Investors definitely see something unique that is brewing here in Kansas City, so we are excited to represent the area,” said Diana Greenberg, COO and co-founder of Enduralock. Founded in 2014, Enduralock is one of 10 finalist tech…

LEANLAB earns another top-tier funder with $76K+ grant from Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation

By Tommy Felts / June 6, 2019

A hefty new grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation will allow LEANLAB Education to expand its incoming 2019 K12 Fellowship from six to 10 innovation teams, Katie Boody said. The $76,500 in funding also allows the education accelerator to grow beyond pilot sites to form the Visionary School Network and award honorariums to…