Pioneering KCI airport vote should help land top talent, startup leaders say

Capping a six-year journey fraught with turbulence, delays and political drama, voters overwhelmingly ratified plans to build a new $1.3 billion airport terminal, which would replace the existing Kansas City International Airport (KCI). “Kansas City has never been about being just mediocre,” said Michael Wilson, founder of luxury watch brand Niall and a frequent traveler…

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Steve Case to KC entrepreneurs, investors: You can’t sit back now

To nudge more Kansas Citians off of the sidelines and into its budding entrepreneurial ecosystem, former AOL founder Steve Case spoke Friday to a group of local investors at a luncheon. KCRise Fund managing director Darcy Howe hosted a fireside chat with Case for a crowd of investors, potential investors and entrepreneurs. Case told the…

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KCRise Fund backs five more KC-area tech startups

Spurring engagement from dozens of area investors, the KCRise Fund has announced five new funding deals in area firms. Launched in 2016 in conjunction with the regional KC Rising economic initiative, the KCRise Fund has added ShotTracker, SMRxT, SquareOffs, Backlot Cars, and Bardavon Health Innovations to its portfolio of now 10 firms. The fund did…

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After $8.5M raise, KC-based Pepper eyes IoT dominance

From app-controlled toilets to smart egg trays, the world of IoT is rapidly expanding. In fact, by 2020, it’s expected that more than 24 billion internet-connected devices will be online. And now one well-heeled Kansas City-based IoT startup wants to serve as the hub for those gadgets. After it recently raised a $8.5 million Series…

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