Startups

Meg Judy, EquipmentShare, and Brett Calhoun, Scale, accept the Midwest Madness win on behalf of Columbia, Missouri, from Katie Birge and Victor Gutwein, M25; photo courtesy of EquipmentShare

‘Homegrown unicorn’ helped this startup hub beat the bracket (and its top seed Kansas competition)

By Tommy Felts / June 29, 2022

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. A…

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Why many ‘deskless’ workers think management is out of touch — the good news: tech can fill the gap

By Tommy Felts / June 23, 2022

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Bob Butler, chief customer officer at SafetyCulture, which has its U.S. headquarters in Kansas City’s Crossroads Arts District, oversees operations for the global tech company and has led it through its greatest stages of growth. Click here to read more about SafetyCulture’s strategy…

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Dr. F. Nicholas Franano, Artio Medical; photo courtesy of Max McBride

Artio closes $28M as it scales to save lives; latest funding brings Prairie Village startup’s investments to $74M 

By Tommy Felts / June 16, 2022

Another hefty funding round for Artio Medical is expected to launch the startup’s commercial sales team in the U.S. and continue development of its best-in-class product pipeline, said founder Nicholas Franano. Artio, a medical device company developing innovative products for the peripheral vascular, neurovascular, and cardiology markets, on Thursday announced the closing of $28 million…

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Dave Johnson and the Chicken N Pickle team at the 2022 KC Chamber Small Business Celebration

Chamber awards ‘Small Business of the Year’ to trendsetter that caught ‘lightning in a bottle’

By Tommy Felts / June 15, 2022

In its third match as a Top 10 Small Business, Chicken N Pickle earned the Chamber’s coveted Mr. K Award — signifying the North Kansas City family entertainment experience as the Small Business of the Year. Dave Johnson, founder of Chicken N Pickle, accepted the honor Wednesday during the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce’s…

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Ainstein headquarters in Lawrence

How Tiger Woods’ swing at The Masters was influenced by this Lawrence lab

By Tommy Felts / June 14, 2022

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. LAWRENCE…

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