Applications open: Sprint Accelerator dialing into ag tech, IoT with 2018 cohort

Investing in startups isn’t just about providing needed capital, Doug Dresslaer said. As the Sprint Accelerator gears up for its fifth year, Dresslaer, managing director of the program, said the accelerator’s 2017 cohort — the first since its move toward establishing corporate partnerships and pivot away from Techstars — proved industry relationships themselves create tremendous value.…

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Virgin Mobile CEO: It’s not hard to hire in KC

It’s been just over a year since Virgin Mobile USA selected Kansas City as the location for its new headquarters, relaunching as a subsidiary of the Overland Park-based wireless giant Sprint. Since then, the firm has moved into a swanky, downtown office and hired 65 people. A handful of positions are still available. Although finding…

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SoftBank’s $100B fund manager: Kansas City is a place people want to stay

SoftBank Capital managing partner Ron Fisher recently said he’s open to deploying some of the $100 billion fund he helps manage in the Midwest, including Kansas City. In an interview with VentureBeat, Fisher discussed Tokyo-based SoftBank’s bold plans to dish some $50 billion in venture capital to U.S. firms and thereby create 50,000 jobs. SoftBank…

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KC Smart City wins ‘Oscar of Innovation,’ a gold Edison Award

Validating a bold technology plan by a variety of public and private organizations, Kansas City’s Smart City initiative recently won a prestigious Edison Award for innovation. The City of Kansas City, Mo., Sprint, Cisco, Think Big Partners and other organizations won a gold award in the category of connected collaboration from the Edison Awards in…

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After KCPS pilot, $2.2B Sprint project plans to close the U.S. homework gap

More than 20 million U.S. households do not have an internet connection, according to the PEW Research Center. Pairing that with the fact that schoolwork is more frequently requiring internet access, millions of students around the nation are severely limited in their learning. In Kansas City, the story is no different — hundreds of households remain…

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