KC’s PlaBook, Erkios selected for coveted $50K Arch Grants, boosting St. Louis startup scene

Two Kansas City companies are expected to be part of Arch Grants’ largest-ever selection of startups, earning spots in the highly competitive St. Louis grant program’s 35-member, nearly $2 million 2021 cohort. PlaBook, an edtech reading platform, and Erkios Systems, a cybersecurity hardware startup, were announced Oct. 1 as winning candidates for the program, which…

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KCultivator Q&A: Kathryn Golden risks it all to laugh at life (but roommates are no joke)

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. [divide] A spoonful of sugar couldn’t help Kathryn Golden stomach the oddities…

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Digital Sandbox charges three new startups with its proof-of-concept challenge

An effort to elevate Kansas City’s creative minds, Digital Sandbox KC is digging deeper in its sixth year of acceleration — adding three new startups to its portfolio, the proof-of-concept program announced this week. “Our initial goal was to find 10 early-stage concepts that had high-growth potential and help them secure follow-on funding,” said Jeff Shackelford,…

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Hustle in the making: Startups scaling ‘maker’ concept with high-growth models (Photos)

Andy Talbert is in no way crafty, the Snow Pops co-founder said. “At all,” he emphasized, eliciting laughter from the crowd at Startland’s “Hustle in the Making” Innovation Exchange. The event — sponsored by Plexpod and Polsinelli — explored the evolving spectrum of startup businesses that could be considered “makers” in modern entrepreneurial culture. Kansas…

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