Startups

PJ Piper, Aware Vehicles; and ZhiQiang Chen, University of Missouri-Kansas City

Whiteboard2Boardroom connections advance innovation for startups like Aware Vehicles

By Tommy Felts / March 3, 2020

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Sarah Mote is marketing director for UMKC Innovation Center and KCSourceLink. The right introduction, at the right time, can make a world of difference. Tech entrepreneur P.J. Piper came to Kansas City six years ago to scale another venture. What he had: entrepreneurial…

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Matt Miquelon and Bill Frenzel, Signal Kit

Startup to Watch exit: KC’s Signal Kit found momentum — and a buyer — on West Coast

By Tommy Felts / March 3, 2020

An edtech firm with deep roots in Kansas City’s startup community is being integrated into its new West Coast owner’s school communications platform, the companies announced Monday. Signal Kit — one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2019 — was acquired by Santa Barbara, Calif.-based ParentSquare in an undisclosed cash and equity…

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Tohi ventures down a Midwest ‘rabbit hole’ to discover a rare berry good enough to drink

By Tommy Felts / February 29, 2020

Tohi Ventures is on a quest to save the planet — one rare-berry infused beverage at a time.  “I was literally doing Google research on unique ingredients, specialty crops … these one-ingredient wonders,” explained Shari Coulter Ford, CEO and co-founder of Tohi Ventures — maker of Tohi, an antioxidant-rich beverage available in four, all-natural flavors. …

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‘Not a good look’: Amid budget cut criticism, Mayor Q shuffles $25K between small biz support groups

By Tommy Felts / February 29, 2020

Editor’s note: Startland News is a program of STARTLAND, an ecosystem-building organization that is among the participants in an informal coalition of entrepreneur support groups hoping to increase funding for small business support in the 2020-2021 Kansas City, Missouri, budget. This story was produced independently by Startland News’ nonprofit newsroom. Responding to sharp criticism of…

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Danny Ritz and Kevin Ritz, State Your Line

State Your Line: Ritz Brothers’ podcast straddles KC, border between fun and dumb

By Tommy Felts / February 26, 2020

Holed up at home, recovering from a broken ankle, Kevin Ritz started to toy with the idea of launching a KC-centric podcast — despite living in a city rich with audio storytellers, he noted.  “I did a lot of research as far as seeing if there was a podcast [about Kansas City] out there already…

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