Bobby Burch
Recent Articles by Bobby Burch
KCRise Fund makes first area investments in SpiderOak, Innara Health
Only a few weeks after closing on its first $10 million, the KCRise Fund announced Wednesday that it has invested in its first Kansas City-area companies. Launched in February in conjunction with the KC Rising economic initiative, the KCRise Fund is joining ongoing investment rounds in SpiderOak and Innara Health. The fund, led by Darcy…
Magic Johnson, David Stern headline $5M round in ShotTracker
A sojourn to the City of Angels has taken on magical meaning for ShotTracker. The Merriam-based firm announced Wednesday that basketball legend Earvin “Magic” Johnson and former NBA Commissioner David Stern are among a group of investors that have injected $5 million into its coffers. The duo of high-profile investors will help accelerate the wearable…
Skeleton of the Missouri Innovation Campus is now complete
Editor’s note: In response to readers’ desire for quick-hitting stories, Startland News is launching a new segment, “News Flash,” to enable more coverage. Let us know what you think! A huge facility that’s dedicated to filling an area employment gap by educating area high school students with technology courses is beginning to take shape….
Kansas Citians preparing for plethora of pitch competitions
A staple of early-stage business — the elevator pitch — will be on full display for the Kansas City community in coming weeks. Entrepreneurs from around the metro area have several upcoming opportunities to pitch their businesses or to hear other innovators deliver spiels on their firms. Here are few of those events. The University of Kansas’…
EyeVerify CEO Toby Rush offers an update on hiring plans, global expansion
When your goal is to more than quadruple your company’s user base — from 450 million to 2 billion people — it usually entails a world of change. And such is the case for Kansas City-based EyeVerify, a biometrics startup that recently sold to Alibaba affiliate Ant Financial for more than $100 million. Startland News spoke…
Global content marketers dub DivvyHQ as their No. 1 platform
Editor’s note: In response to readers’ desire for quick-hitting stories, Startland News is launching a new segment, “News Flash,” to enable more coverage. Let us know what you think! DivvyHQ is riding a wave of excitement after its peers in the world of content marketing recently voted the company as the best solution in its…
Batch of startup funding news kicks off Kansas City’s autumn
In response to readers’ desire for quick-hitting stories, Startland News is launching a new segment, “News Flash,” to enable more coverage. Let us know what you think! Fall in Kansas City is off to a solid start for area startups. Several firms in the metro area have recently raised capital that they hope will accelerate…
‘Hustle’ and a heart: Beth Engel on the ethos of Dundee Venture Capital’s new fund
In a red, grid-lined journal, Beth Engel outlines a note in large block letters. With each stroke of her pen, “HUSTLE” grows bolder. As though to protect the musing, the venture capitalist of three years adds a box around the reminder before once again tracing over the word. Engel continues to sketch as she eloquently…
Joni Cobb and Pipeline took ‘a leap of faith’ that’s paying off
In 2006, Joni Cobb was busy coaxing Kansas business executives to apply for a program honing their leadership skills. Then a state-subsidized program, Pipeline would cultivate promising entrepreneurs that would tangentially grow the Sunflower State’s economy with their firms. Extolled as rigorous, the Pipeline sales pitch hit snags with its intensiveness and novelty. Skeptical entrepreneurs…
The Pipeline fellowship’s journey to the Emerald Isle in photos
In an educational adventure focused on finance and global business strategy, the Pipeline entrepreneurial fellowship program ventured across the pond for a week of relationship building. I tagged along not only to observe the experience — expect more on that front soon — but to capture some moments with my camera. This smattering of photos, which…