Tag: Greg Kratofil

‘This is the dream’: Starty Party turns up the volume on Kansas City tech, collaboration (Photos)

By Tommy Felts / November 13, 2025

It isn’t a party without the people, said organizers of the Starty Party, gathering a crowd of startup veterans, early stage founders, investors and community leaders Wednesday for a one-night celebration of innovation — set against the backdrop of homegrown music and vibes. “This is amazing,” said Melissa Vincent, CEO of Pipeline Entrepreneurs, from the Starty…

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Get tickets to the Starty Party: MidxMidwest opens doors to SXSW-flavored startup-investor summit

By Tommy Felts / October 16, 2025

Polsinelli-powered celebration at Knuckleheads puts homegrown headliner, community collaboration on stage A trio of innovation-infused collaborators are taking over Knuckleheads — an East Bottoms landmark that perfectly captures the region’s grit, creativity and unmistakable live music vibe, organizers said — for a new community event to help launch MidxMidwest 2025. Doors open at 5:30 p.m.…

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Photos: ARtechBBQ party gets the beer cheese flowing with a salted pretzel tech twist

By Tommy Felts / November 4, 2024

Sweater weather returned Friday night alongside Kansas City’s premiere after-hours celebration of tech, and ARtechBBQ organizer Greg Kratofil couldn’t have been happier, he said. “How about this being back in the fall?” Kratofil asked a crowd of well-fed revelers at the party within the party on the grounds of the Kansas Speedway. ARtechBBQ — now…

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ARtechBBQ is back, bringing Oktoberfest vibes to KC’s best-smelling celebration of tech

By Tommy Felts / October 11, 2024

While the party has grown larger each year, Greg Kratofil said, the goal of the ARtechBBQ remains the same: to highlight Kansas City’s tech community at what he calls the closest thing the city has to Mardi Gras. The hotly-anticipated, one-night-only event returns 6 p.m. to midnight Nov. 1 at the Kansas Speedway during the…

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VC summit: It’s a great place to ‘keep your head down and build’ — but is ‘KC nice’ slowing potential?

By Tommy Felts / November 16, 2022

Building a startup in Kansas City comes with a mix of unique benefits and challenges, said serial entrepreneurs Riddhiman Das and Toby Rush, who both agreed the local ecosystem is enjoying “significant” momentum — while pushing the startup scene to be “more aggressive and more brutally honest.” “When you’re on an exponential growth curve, whenever…

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