Startups

OYO Nova Gym by OYO Fitness

Reluctant gym-goers help push KC’s OYO to $4.4M in pre-sales for latest home fitness device

By Tommy Felts / June 24, 2020

A month after breaking records as the most-funded fitness product in Kickstarter history, the KC-created OYO Nova Gym closed its crowdfunding campaign with $4.4 million in pre-sales. “To say that it exceeded our expectations is a total understatement,” said Graham Ripple, COO of OYO Fitness, the Kansas City-based startup behind the handheld home gym product.…

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Matthew Claar, Decker Starr and John Boucard; Tesseract Ventures

Peek inside Tesseract HQ: Robotics startup builds future in real time (with humans on the brain)

By Tommy Felts / June 23, 2020

As an intentionally lowered screen begins to lift on Tesseract Ventures, once-seemingly-wild ideas that lived only in tech inventor John Boucard’s head are being realized. With them, the future of work is taking shape — 3D-printed piece by 3D-printed piece — hardwired in the suburbs of Kansas City.  “We were a bit mysterious in the…

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Luke Wade, KC Crew; photo courtesy of Nicole Bissey Photography

KC Crew dives into virtual entertainment, surviving long enough to reopen summer sports

By Tommy Felts / June 23, 2020

When COVID-19 shut down organized sports across the city, Luke and Katy Wade went back to the basics to keep KC Crew active — putting a virtual spin on classic entertainment options. “Who would have thought bingo you know?” Luke Wade said, referencing his first experiment in finding an alternative diversion for a newly online-only…

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Miguel Johns, KingFit

KingFit acquisition fuels expansion plans in Mexico, focuses bilingual health tech startup

By Tommy Felts / June 23, 2020

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. WICHITA…

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Andrew Carlson, Mixaba

New party-goers every 15 minutes: How KC-designed Mixaba could put humanity back into happy hour

By Tommy Felts / June 20, 2020

Andrew Carlson is the first to admit he isn’t the most vocal person at a party — but even he knew 30 people trying to talk over each other at a virtual happy hour isn’t the solution to socially distant socializing.  “Right now everybody’s staring at each other behind the screen  A one-on-one conversation is fairly…

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