Profiles

Jesse Nelson and Bo Nelson, Cafe Equinox

Thou Mayest sprouts fresh coffee concept in the suburbs; new Crossroads flagship percolating

Coffee needn’t be melancholy or monochromatic, said Thou Mayest founder Bo Nelson, bathed in warm sunlight at Cafe Equinox. “We have to wake people up,” said Nelson. “We’re trying to celebrate the diversity of life — humanity, plants, music, art — so many collisions. It’s not a distraction. It’s not a means to an end….

Ben Williams and Mitch Case, Mommy Meals co-founders

Mommy Meals designs simple dinner kits for delivery to new moms

KC-cooked startup Mommy Meals aims to serve impact — not just dinner — attempting to tackle a growing mental health experience one hot plate at a time, said its co-founders. “I truly believe if you’re in a tough spot — you’re down on your luck, you’re in a dark spot — I always tell people ‘Go…

FlipSwitch VR

FlipSwitch VR visualizes scaling its active, multiplayer gaming concept from Crossroads

Kansas City could be the virtual reality hub of America, said Michael Eichenseer, predicting Crossroads-located FlipSwitch VR will jumpstart the movement with the help of First Fridays foot traffic. “The owners [KC natives Jim and Jamie Mahoney] definitely want to expand,” said Eichenseer, host and marketing manager for the “epic scale, free-roam, multiplayer virtual reality”…

Ben Hammes and Preston Koprivica, Chain of Trust Technologies

Chain of Trust manages secret passwords after coffee shop meetup, corporate departure

From Starbucks to startup, a swipe right on networking opportunities led two Kansas City, Kansas, men to an adventure in tech entrepreneurship — disrupting the secret management space with the inception of Chain of Trust Technologies, they said. “If you’re going to be an entrepreneur, get people who you can talk to that can give…

RNAissance Ag

Biopesticide AgTech building toward RNAissance with TechAccel cultivation

KC-based TechAccel endeavors to guide startups through “the valley of death” stage that emerges after ideation, but before traction, said Brad Fabbri, noting the firm’s new venture, RNAissance Ag, is expected to disrupt the ag tech industry with environmentally-safe biopesticides. “We try to find products and help develop them to make [farmers’] lives easier and…