Startups

Listen: Behind the scenes interview with Hyperloop One exec on Missouri plan

By Tommy Felts / February 1, 2018

By now you’ve likely seen that Missouri is a top five favorite to land a Virgin Hyperloop One route. If built in Missouri, the tubular transportation system would move people from Kansas City to St. Louis in 30 minutes, creating a mega-region that combines the state’s biggest cities, said Dan Katz, director of global public…

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ScaleUP! KC class, 2018

ScaleUP! KC expands impact with 18 entrepreneurs in latest class

By Tommy Felts / January 31, 2018

In announcing its latest class, the ScaleUP! KC incubator embraced its track record of helping Kansas City entrepreneurs develop the business skills needed to take the next steps on their journeys. Now on its seventh cohort, the program has graduated 92 business owners, including startups like The Sundry, Ruby Jean’s Juicery, Cambrian Tech, H3 Enterprises…

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Dan Stifter and Raina Knox, Stratex Solutions

CEO Raina Knox: Millennials don’t have a monopoly on startup momentum

By Tommy Felts / January 31, 2018

Experience matters — even in an ecosystem built upon disrupting the status quo, said Raina Knox, CEO and co-founder of Stratex Solutions. “It’s uncomfortable for some in the startup community to embrace the concept of people with portfolio careers still having a meaningful impact,” she said, noting her lengthy career as a “fixer” in the…

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Dan Katz Virgin Hyperloop One

Hyperloop One exec: KC route would create ‘mega-region’ along I-70

By Tommy Felts / January 30, 2018

When you’re hoping to move people and freight at near subsonic speeds, it pays to be straightforward. At least that’s the case for Virgin Hyperloop One, which announced Tuesday it has embarked on the feasibility study of a high-speed route that would connect Kansas City and St. Louis in about 30 minutes. “It’s a very…

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Julia Luetje, Storm Sleeper, pre-teen innovator

Grand prize: 10-year-old Leawood girl wins $260K for Storm Sleeper invention

By Tommy Felts / January 29, 2018

When Julia Luetje’s parents surprised her at school with news that her Storm Sleeper invention won Frito-Lay’s $250,000 Dreamvention grand prize, the 10-year-old Leawood girl was excited, but told them she needed to get back to work. “Julia seemed to be stunned,” said her mother, Susan Bernstein. “She had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on…

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