Tag: Idle Smart

Idle Smart team: Kaley Lester, Brayden Jensen and Andrew Smith

How a KC partnership helped Idle Smart avoid a cold start that could’ve stalled its recovery

By Tommy Felts / December 14, 2021

Editor’s note: The following story is sponsored by Academy Bank, a Kansas City based community bank, and is part of a series of features spotlighting some of the bank’s startup and small business partners. Wasted time is wasted money — a notion at the forefront of Idle Smart, a Kansas City IoT tech company built…

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Venture capital Kansas City

Kansas City’s Top VC-Backed Companies in 2020

By Tommy Felts / August 31, 2020

The 2020 Top Venture Capital-Backed Companies List reflects a range of success stories and COVID-era challenges among Kansas City’s community of growth-stage, venture-backed companies. The list — updated annually by Startland News and its parent organization, Startland — shows that while few companies were spared from COVID-19’s impact, many of Kansas City’s leading entrepreneurs continued to grow…

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Kansas City’s Top VC-Backed Companies in 2019

By Tommy Felts / August 13, 2019

The Top Venture Capital-Backed Companies List recognizes the momentum pushing an emerging cohort of Kansas City growth-stage, venture-backed companies.  Simply put, the list — updated and now published annually — shows a massive increase in venture capital deployed to Kansas City companies in 2019, as well as a significant jump in jobs at those businesses.…

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Jy Maze, Maze Freight Solutions

Q&A: Founder Jy Maze on the industry that runs the world (and delivers the toilet paper)

By Tommy Felts / June 24, 2019

Everything has to ship, said Jy Maze. From the microphone in her hand to the stool where she sat to the shoes on the Maze Freight Solutions founder’s feet, it all comes with mileage and a cost, she said. Her woman-owned, Overland Park-based, third-party freight logistics startup itself was packed in 2017 when Maze decided…

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Ivraj Seerha, Bellwethr; Alexandra Wooden, Idle Smart; Kevin McPherson, Bellwethr; and Alex Tran, Five Elms

Venture for America fellows bringing diversity of thought to KC tech, investment firms

By Tommy Felts / June 11, 2019

Venture for America fellows are flocking to Kansas City, said Kate Loar. “Venture For America’s initial Kansas City champions: the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Pepper, KCRise Fund, and Super Dispatch set the groundwork for growth in KC,” noted Loar, VFA director in St. Louis and Kansas City. “We’re excited to expand the local VFA cohort…

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