News

Continuing its hot streak, PayIt wins national pitch contest

By Tommy Felts / July 7, 2016

Government tech startup PayIt is on a roll. Only weeks after a earning a commendation from Amazon, the Kansas City-based firm recently won a national pitch competition as part of the annual United States Conference of Mayors. PayIt’s mobile and web app that streamlines citizens’ financial interaction with government agencies beat out dozens of other…

Read More >
virtual reality KCVR

Virtual reality hackathon to visualize next-generation ed tech tools

By Tommy Felts / July 7, 2016

Move over, gamers, virtual reality isn’t just for you anymore. Kansas City will soon host its first-ever virtual reality hackathon, and it’s all about classroom education. The Kansas City Virtual Reality club — which brings together the area’s virtual reality enthusiasts — is challenging virtual- and augmented-reality aficionados to create applications that can help educators…

Read More >

Pear Deck student engagement tech grows with KC expansion

By Tommy Felts / July 7, 2016

Kansas City is apparently a fertile area for burgeoning education tech startups. Iowa City-based Pear Deck recently opened a Kansas City office to help develop a sales team for its student engagement platform. And Kansas City’s history in supporting successful education tech firms helped Pear Deck leaders make the expansion decision. Pear Deck CEO Riley…

Read More >

Never say die: KC forges ahead with bold transportation plan

By Tommy Felts / July 1, 2016

Kansas City’s bold ambitions for a next-generation transportation system may be down — but they’re not out. On June 22, Kansas City received news that it lost out on a $50 million award that would’ve revolutionized its transportation system. More than 120 public and private leaders collaborated on Kansas City’s pitch for the “Beyond Traffic,…

Read More >

KCSourceLink: Improving startups’ access to capital ‘a marathon, not a sprint’

By Tommy Felts / July 1, 2016

A year ago, KCSourceLink discovered that area early-stage investors need more connections with each other and the startups they fund. To that end, the entrepreneurial resource hub on Tuesday rallied an array of major investment groups that target startups in Kansas City, building the foundation of a more connected capital community. In total, 15 local…

Read More >