Woman-led

Zach Anderson Pettet, Money 20/20, Cordell Carter II, Aspen Institute Socrates Program, Terri Bradford, Federal Reserve of Kansas City, and Donald Hawkins, kinly, at the C3KC “Fintech is Revolutionizing Banking” session

National pain points meet local solutions at C3KC; How ‘energy of the day’ can spark lasting change

By Tommy Felts / March 14, 2023

Editor’s note: The Junior League of Kansas City — through its C3KC conference — is an advertiser with Startland News. Fostering conversations about the most-pressing concerns facing communities not only helps expose the best of Kansas City innovation, said Becky Haddican, it also serves as a catalyst for even greater collaboration in the future. Now in…

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‘When puppets talk people listen’: It’s not just storytelling anymore for one of KC’s most beloved children’s theaters

By Tommy Felts / March 14, 2023

A Kansas City arts institution known for years as the Mesner Puppet Theater is animated with new life, said Meghann Henry, detailing a mission pivot for the freshly sewn and rebranded What If Puppets. Evolution at the nonprofit has taken a turn toward early childhood education since the retirement of Paul Mesner in 2016 —…

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M25 drops Midwest Madness bracket for best startup hub: 4-seed KC faces up-hill battle (Here’s how to vote)

By Tommy Felts / March 13, 2023

Bracket update: Since this story’s original publication, Kansas City has advanced to the Midwest Madness bracket’s Round of 32. Voting on Kansas City’s next match-up — against 5-seed Lafayette, Indiana — begins Tuesday, March 21. As sports fans fill out March Madness brackets this week, a Chicago-based venture capital firm is encouraging Midwestern founders, investors…

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KC, Wichita, Topeka startups earn share of $100K as K-State accelerator spreads prize money across region

By Tommy Felts / March 10, 2023

MANHATTAN — A demo day with $100,000 on the line culminated in a Kansas City startup leaving the stage with the event’s second-highest winnings. Poshed on the Go earned $23,500 in funding Thursday from the Kansas State University Accelerator program, coming in just behind the grand-prize winner, PillReady, Wichita, with $36,000. The Shawnee-based company is…

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Fresh start: Selfie studio goes mobile, reimagining its FOMO factory as a custom experience

By Tommy Felts / March 10, 2023

Fresh Factory KC is evolving, founder India Wells-Carter shared, embracing change as she re-evaluates where and how her camera-ready venture can help shine the brightest light on Kansas City. After a year and a half in its brick-and-mortar location at the Zona Rosa shopping center, Fresh Factory KC has uprooted and gone mobile, bringing the…

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