Tag: M25

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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Venture experts: Getting your first check in KC is too difficult, but a record influx of coastal investors isn’t a bad substitute

By Tommy Felts / September 20, 2022

A new report on Kansas City’s venture-backed companies showed year-over-year growth in multiple areas — impressing industry experts who identified key investment trends in the data. More companies with venture capital backing; higher employee counts; a 58 percent boost in fundraising. Yet growth was not universal. Despite gains in top-line figures, the number of Kansas City-based…

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Big wins up the odds: KC’s standing among Midwest peer cities rises in new M25 ranking

By Tommy Felts / August 9, 2022

Headline-grabbing success stories and newly boosted state funding for startup support are a powerful combination, said Victor Gutwein, detailing Kansas City’s higher 2022 spot on M25’s annual ranking of Midwest startup cities. Kansas City rose to No. 11 of 59 in the deep dive report — which explores how micro-environments in the Midwest are performing…

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Historic $1.8M pre-seed round revs up automotive startup with former BacklotCars VP behind the wheel

By Tommy Felts / July 28, 2022

Anders Ericson is tackling an overlooked issue in the automotive industry, he shared, and investors are not missing out on the opportunity to back up his solution.  “There is this glaring problem in the market where people with subprime credit, who are trying to buy a car, are going into these specialized dealerships and paying…

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Meg Judy, EquipmentShare, and Brett Calhoun, Scale, accept the Midwest Madness win on behalf of Columbia, Missouri, from Katie Birge and Victor Gutwein, M25; photo courtesy of EquipmentShare

‘Homegrown unicorn’ helped this startup hub beat the bracket (and its top seed Kansas competition)

By Tommy Felts / June 29, 2022

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. A…

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