Tag: Megan Darnell

Megan Darnell and Zach Anderson Pettet, Fountain City Fintech 2019 demo day, nbkc bank

nbkc discontinues Fountain City Fintech as accelerator leader leaves for San Fran startup

By Tommy Felts / March 19, 2020

A trendsetter in the fintech space, nbkc bank confirmed Wednesday it was discontinuing its popular Fountain City Fintech accelerator after two cohorts. The news follows the departure of the accelerator’s leader, who has joined a San Francisco startup eying Kansas City for its next hiring hub. “This is the first time in my life that…

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Fountain City Fintech 2019 cohort

Party for the payoff: Fountain City Fintech sets Oct. 15 demo day, KC celebration

By Tommy Felts / September 18, 2019

Kansas City’s ongoing fintech momentum deserves more than a nod from analysts and trend watchers, said Zach Pettet, announcing plans for an Oct. 15 demo day that’s already taking shape as a community celebration. “We need an excuse to rally together and celebrate everything that’s happened over the past few months — especially in the…

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Donald Hawkins, Griffin Technologies

nbkc launches Entrepreneur in Residence incubator: ‘I have a whole company behind me’

By Tommy Felts / June 18, 2019

Less than a year after its inaugural Fountain City Fintech accelerator debuted, nbkc bank has launched a new incubator program designed to tackle common banking industry problems with start-up-style ideation, problem solving, and tenacity, said Megan Darnell. The goal: building new companies along the way, the nbkc program manager said. “Kansas City has every single…

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Megan Darnell and Zach Anderson Pettet, Fountain City Fintech, nbkc bank

Fountain City Fintech earns EDC’s Cornerstone Award in accelerator’s first year

By Tommy Felts / May 30, 2019

Fountain City Fintech’s plan was to put Kansas City on the map, Zach Anderson Pettet said. In the process, the community bank-backed accelerator earned attention in its own right, he said. “A big piece of our plan was to give our cohort a chance to dig in and really understand the city — understand the…

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Andrea Savage, Salem Habte, Mark Babcock, Alec Rodgers, and Ali Brandolino, UMKC Enactus

UMKC Enactus team kicks open front door to Kansas City innovation scene with final four win

By Tommy Felts / May 24, 2019

As the number of teams left standing in the Enactus U.S. nationals started to dwindle, members of the competitive entrepreneurial development program’s team at the University of Missouri-Kansas City rode a pulsating wave of excitement and emotion, recalled Ali Brandolino. “I started crying,” added Brandolino, UMKC Enactus vice president of operations. “It was the most…

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