News Stories
Rise Up, Get Started competition set to award $1,500 grants; showcase paths from prison to founder
“We took someone’s car at gunpoint,” recalled Marcus Bullock. “It was about a week after my 15th birthday. I was 15 years old and I trembled at the thought of — not a judge —but to be honest, because I had to stand in front of a phone and call my mother and feel her…
KC’s woman-led startups selected for global summit; founders credit hustle, persistence
What started as an opportunity to meet interesting people and showcase innovative ideas to investors has turned into a once-in-a-lifetime shot at elevating five of Kansas City’s women-led startups on an international stage, said Shea Geist, beaming. “My husband made the application and I was like … ‘Whatever, it’s a million to one chance,’ so…
Big Fly Gear takes the field with vintage feel, historic ties to Kansas City baseball
Signing off his live broadcast, Los Angeles Angels broadcaster Victor Rojas receives a phone call. A fresh order of prints — featuring Hank Aaron’s “755” — have just shipped. The Overland Park native’s apparel startup, Big Fly Gear, has been growing steadily since its launch in February, Rojas said. The clothing line, fittingly, celebrates historical…
Tired of waiting at the barber shop? An AI-infused platform grown at UMKC could trim time
Born in the barber’s chair, Kansas City-based ScheduleMe could take more than a little off the top for service-based retailers. The startup plans to use artificial intelligence to groom the haphazard scheduling process entirely, its co-founders said. “We discovered that [our barbershop] was having issues with scheduling. What we wanted to do was try to…
AudreySpirit fashions clothing to help chronically ill child patients feel like themselves again
AudreySpirit is designed to bring dignity to chronically sick children, said Donna Yadrich, detailing a specially created clothing line that doesn’t sacrifice practicality. “When my daughter Audrey was in the [Intensive Care Unit] the last time, I was looking at her arms and she just had so many wires and everything coming out of her…
