Startups

Venboo heads to market(s), hoping to make local vendors the next Crumbl Cookies with its event booking tech

By Tommy Felts / February 2, 2023

The Venboo app — which connects individual vendors and event organizers on a single platform — will soon gain a dashboard that allows all parties to connect more seamlessly, detailed Juaquan Herron. The dashboard is expected to further streamline the user’s booking experience of Venboo, which lets vendors set criteria for events that match their…

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Behind the blooom deal: How Morgan Stanley at Work boosted its robo-advising tech with startup buy, but kept a human touch

By Tommy Felts / February 2, 2023

Editor’s note: Morgan Stanley is a financial supporter of Startland News. The investment management and financial services company has branches in Leawood and on the Country Club Plaza. Acquisition is scaling blooom’s tech ‘beyond our wildest dreams’ Integrating a Kansas City startup’s tech into its globe-spanning robo-advising portfolio — along with securing a soft landing…

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Meet the Midwest’s future serial entrepreneurs: Pipeline reveals 2023 fellowship, Pathfinder cohort

By Tommy Felts / February 1, 2023

Nearly 30 of the region’s most promising founders now have access to an industry-agnostic network that focuses solely on serial high-growth entrepreneurs — without taking equity in the startups it serves, said Melissa Vincent. Pipeline Entrepreneurs on Tuesday officially announced its new roster of high-profile fellows, as well as members of its latest Pipeline Pathfinder…

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$2M grant expected to fuel workforce training, equity hub led by BioNexus KC, Missouri bioscience partners

By Tommy Felts / January 31, 2023

The Kansas City region must level up to meet the demand of the expanding life sciences industry and support underserved job seekers, said Dennis Ridenour, announcing a $2 million in federal funds aimed at boosting readiness to fill talent shortages. The funding award will establish the “Bioscience Industry Occupational Training and Equity Collaborative Hub for…

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‘Food is Medicine’ tech platform shows appetite for growth with new $2.1M seed round

By Tommy Felts / January 26, 2023

A patient-driven digital platform that empowers lower income Americans living with chronic health conditions to order the diet-specific foods and support they need announced Thursday it has closed a $2.1 million seed investment. The funding for Free From Market — one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023 — allows the company…

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