Startups

KCultivator Q&A: Lauren Conaway finds passion in womxn-led InnovateHER KC

By Tommy Felts / June 13, 2019

Editor’s note: KCultivators is a lighthearted profile series to highlight people who are meaningfully enriching Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem. The KCultivator Series is sponsored by Plexpod, a progressive coworking platform offering next generation workspace for entrepreneurs, startups, and growth-stage companies of all sizes. Kansas City’s female entrepreneurs are begging for the opportunity to champion each…

Read More >

Forget the war on drugs — Marijuana is a war on chronic pain, says founder in ProjectUK cohort

By Tommy Felts / June 13, 2019

Don’t look at marijuana through a societal lens, said Jessica Sanders. Instead view the natural substance as a potential life-saving measure. “My mother had multiple sclerosis and seeing her suffer really changed a lot about me,” explained Sanders, founder of Lisa’s Gifts — a high-quality THC extraction facility named after Sanders’ mom, expected to provide and…

Read More >
Matt Moody, Bellwethr, Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2019

Bellwethr grows $2.5M in seed funding, building two-city talent base between KC, Manhattan

By Tommy Felts / June 12, 2019

A $2.5 million seed funding round will infuse Bellwethr with more than cash, said Matt Moody. “We’ve been able to find some high quality talent and the big thing now is to apply that, build out the product more and start selling even faster,”  Moody, founder and CEO, said of Bellwethr’s alignment for rapid growth.…

Read More >

Local Legends unplugs Westport eSports gaming center; founder vows his vision won’t be reduced by May shooting

By Tommy Felts / June 12, 2019

The doors at 3933 Main St. are locked tight, but the startup journey once housed inside them is far from over, teased AbdulRasheed Yahaya. “Local Legends isn’t going anywhere … unless we’re talking about the video game truck. That’s going everywhere,” said Yahaya, owner of Local Legends Gaming — an eSports and gaming business that…

Read More >
Jeff Jones, H&R Block

Wave’s $405M acquisition a move toward ‘bigger, bolder, faster’ H&R Block, CEO says

By Tommy Felts / June 11, 2019

The $405 million acquisition of Wave Financial wasn’t about H&R Block’s image — it was a move to join like-minded companies in the trenches of innovation, no matter the weight either surging business holds, said Jeff Jones. “We knew strategically that industry makes Wave a fit with H&R Block, and then it was a matter…

Read More >