News

1 Million Cups wraps month-long black entrepreneur showcase

By Tommy Felts / March 1, 2018

Celebrating differences strengthens everyone, a white 1 Million Cups volunteer told a room full of black entrepreneurs and business owners Wednesday evening. “Diversity and inclusion are important to us year-round here at 1 Million Cups,” said Kyle Smith, communications coordinator at KCSourceLink and a 1MC Kansas City community organizer. “And I am very well aware…

C2FO raises massive $100M round for global expansion

By Tommy Felts / March 1, 2018

In what is believed to be the largest venture-backed funding round in the Kansas City area’s history, C2FO is lighting the fuse on its global expansion with a $100 million capital raise. The Leawood-based financial tech firm’s round was led by Munich-based Allianz X and Abu Dhabi-based Mubadala Investment Company, and included participation from Temasek,…

Techweek KC returning with big LaunchKC, Techstars, BetaBlox demo days

By Tommy Felts / February 28, 2018

One of Kansas City’s biggest conference series for entrepreneurs is returning in October alongside some of KC’s most premier accelerator programs, said Amanda Signorelli, CEO of Techweek KC. Demo days for Techstars KC and BetaBlox will join LaunchKC as signature events during the Oct. 8-12 conference, she said. “Combined with the nationally recognized LaunchKC competition…

Techstars KC alum Grit Virtual posts $840K oversubscribed seed round

By Tommy Felts / February 28, 2018

Reality is starting to sink in for Grit Virtual, said co-founder Chris Callen. “It’s exciting to finally be able to talk about our funding rounds and the successes we have had,” Callen said. “It’s been an exciting ride so far, and we’re kind of gearing up to make it a real company, not just an R&D…

State of Entrepreneurship Address: Redefine ‘entrepreneur’ through inclusion

By Tommy Felts / February 28, 2018

Entrepreneurship rates are half of what they were a generation ago, and although the U.S. population is increasingly diverse, educated and older, the nation’s entrepreneurial population isn’t changing at the same pace, Wendy Guillies said. Founders face too many barriers, said Guillies, president and chief executive officer of the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Wednesday morning…