Startups
A place to belong: Business model built to shatter intimidation lifted City Gym through COVID’s heaviest season yet
Ahead-of-the-curve thinking helped keep City Gym strong in the early days of COVID-19 when the weight of the pandemic dropped on people-focused industries. “We lost a fair amount of members — maybe they couldn’t financially afford it anymore, maybe they didn’t feel safe,” said Hailee Bland Walsh, founder and owner of City Gym in Waldo….
Timing ‘couldn’t be better’ for scaling Innara Health’s solution for preemies, CEO says
One of Kansas City’s most under the radar startups is scaling up amid COVID-19 — thanks in part to a share of $250 thousand in non-dilutive funding from a Los Angeles-based accelerator and FDA sponsored pediatric device consortia. “When COVID hit, one of the things I took from that was, ‘When you’re not selling, your process better…
TrueAccord exceeds growth projections, boosting hiring at its Lenexa second headquarters
What began as 12 new employees in an empty office space has now become a booming hub of activity with 118 full-time members — and growing — said Sheila Monroe. “We really blew away our growth projections,” said Monroe, general manager of collections for TrueAccord. “We’ll likely sign a lease for some additional office space…
BacklotCars developer balances work, school and helping recover 33,000 pounds of food for the hungry
Behind the scenes of BacklotCars’ historic $425 million exit deal, one of the Kansas City company’s top developers is feeding innovation in his home country, said Josh Parsons. Pablo Ulguin — a full-time senior software developer at BacklotCars who also is completing night school in Uruguay to earn a degree in computer science and learn…
Passion on paper: How decades-old tech helped ink creative ownership for a trendsetting designer
Kevin Garrison stockpiles canisters of ink like he collects cans of limited edition SPAM flavors — feeding a passion for vintage-inspired design that overflows from his Waldo home studio. “Some men get to a certain age and go buy a motorcycle or boats, and I went out and bought a Risograph printer,” the veteran graphic…
