How Kansas City’s accelerators are fueling area innovation

In partnership with Think Big Partners, the Innovation Exchange offers Kansas Citians context and behind-the-scenes details on newsmakers in the area entrepreneurial ecosystem. This month, area leaders — including the Techstars Kansas city managing director Lesa Mitchell — discussed the impact that accelerators have on the metro’s entrepreneurial community. If you missed the event, you…

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Led by a ‘give first’ ethos, Techstars becomes a B-Corp

When your company mantra is “give first,” it’s bound have a philanthropic focus. And that ideology seems to have driven Techstars’ recent move to become a certified “B Corporation,” entailing the investment and accelerator group adhere to strict standards of social and environmental performance, accountability and transparency. A “B Corp” — or benefit corporation —…

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Humanizing text analysis, Stride marches to international growth

Computers can do a lot these days, but they can’t process feelings. After all, that’s what sets humans apart from machine — right? Not necessarily it seems, as one Kansas-City based artificial intelligence firm is challenging that notion with its text-analyzing tech that not only identifies subjects but also a writer’s sentiment. A graduate of…

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The Sprint Accelerator returns in 2017 with new approach

In less that 24 hours, Kansas City has learned that it will have a new pair of major accelerator programs in 2017. The Sprint Accelerator announced Thursday morning that, while it’s retained its name, the program has undergone a significant evolution that hopes to foster meaningful partnerships between startups and Kansas City corporations. Among a…

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Techstars to launch new accelerator program in Kansas City

Accelerator guru group Techstars announced Wednesday that it’s launching a new program in Kansas City after leading the Sprint Accelerator for three years with Sprint. Lesa Mitchell, a former vice president of innovation and networks for the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, will serve as the managing director of the Kansas City accelerator. “We’re excited to…

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