Startups

BacklotCars taking over full floor of new Lightwell building following $25M funding round 

By Tommy Felts / August 2, 2019

A 20,000-square-foot space in one of Kansas City’s most recently remodeled downtown office buildings will allow BacklotCars room to continue expanding its team, while also impressing high-level targets, said Josh Parsons. “The location, design and amenities of the project are exactly what is needed to attract the top tech talent to Kansas City,” said Parsons,…

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David Lintz and Stuart Ludlow, RFP360

RFP360 doubles in size since December; team back under one roof with move to new space

By Tommy Felts / August 2, 2019

RFP360 is coming full circle, said Stuart Ludlow, as the software company he co-founded with David Hulsen in the Kansas City Startup Village once again levels up to accommodate a swelling team and increasing market demand. “We’re moving into a place — scale and scope — that Dave and I envisioned,” said Ludlow, who also…

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Super Dispatch expands reach into auto transport, launches car shipping platform

By Tommy Felts / August 1, 2019

The “Amazon experience” is coming to the world of car shipping as Super Dispatch launches a new platform to bring the auto transportation industry up to the speed companies are demanding: now, said Bek Abdullayev. “We are creating a better way to transport cars with new technology that solves major problems for shippers and carriers,”…

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Deanna Munoz, Latino Arts Foundation

‘Queer Eye’ hero paints an ‘inner circle’ for young Latino artists craving a creative outlet

By Tommy Felts / August 1, 2019

Deanna Munoz’s childhood dream to become an artist — once faded and long forgotten — was revived years later by her 6-year-old daughter, said Munoz, founder of the Latino Arts Foundation.   “I wanted to be a graphic designer, but I kind of got caught up in a lot of different things when I was young…

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Vanessa Mahan and Catherine Pollman, Bionic Bowel, UMKC Regnier Venture Creation Challenge

Two Missouri biology students just wanted an ‘A’ — ultimately they devised a treatment for Crohn’s Disease

By Tommy Felts / July 31, 2019

Launching a biotech company based on a class project took the quest for an ‘A’ to a whole new level for two Missouri University of Science and Technology students — founders of Bionic Bowell.  Prompted by professors to find a use for a special ion-interacting glass compound, Vanessa Mahan and Catherine Pollman devised an ingestible…

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