Startups

KC-based OYO Fitness closes a historically successful Kickstarter

To say that OYO Fitness has a successful Kickstarter campaign would be an understatement. The Kansas City-based fitness firm folded up and then crushed its recent crowdfunding effort, which raised a stunning $659,000 for its collapsible and compact exercise device. OYO’s DoubleFlex Black campaign — which snagged pre-orders from 4,200 backers — was the second…

Survivor, innovator Kim Gandy rewards patients for sticking to treatments

In her 20 years working as a transplantation clinician, Kim Gandy found it baffling that a seemingly simple problem had such a difficult time finding a solution. Transplant patients consistently struggled to adhere to their health regimens, resulting not only in significant costs for care providers but also death. “We were literally losing patients,” Gandy…

Kansas City to host national student entrepreneur competition

Kansas City will soon host a national competition for student entrepreneurs. Set for March 6 and 7 at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation the Global Student Entrepreneur Awards will bring its top 25 national finalists to Kansas City. To qualify, student entrepreneurs must be the primary operator of a business less than six years old…

Area experts dive into uncertainty and hope for immigrant entrepreneurship

Now more than ever, it’s important for the community to come together to gain new perspectives. That notion was a driving force behind the February Innovation Exchange in which Startland News dove into the subject of immigration and entrepreneurship. Hosted in partnership with Think Big, the event welcomed a researcher and a policy expert from…

Analysis from binge watching six-months of 1 Million Cups KC

Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Every Wednesday morning in over 100 communities nationwide, two entrepreneurs present a six-minute profile of their companies to a diverse audience, followed by 20 minutes of open Q&A. Last July, I binge-watched 1 Million Cups Kansas City’s 51 presentations from January 1 to…