Bobby Burch
Recent Articles by Bobby Burch
Niall goes ‘all in’ on new retail location, high-tech pen
Well-known in Kansas City for gifting Royals manager Ned Yost a snazzy timepiece, Niall will soon be offering a host of new luxury products — including a high-tech pen — and a new store to feature them. Led by CEO Mike Wilson, Niall on Wednesday announced an expansion of its product line to include a…
Cue the palpitations: Bobby’s taking a (free) coding class
Only a few weeks in Kansas City, and LaunchCode is already making good on its promise to improve the area’s coding competency with a free, 16-week computer science course. And this mathematically-challenged, technically-inept journalist is going to do his best not to embarrass himself while attempting to learn the science of computing. Open to all…
Sprint Accelerator firms hiring, offering meet-and-greet
The new firms at the Techstars-led Sprint Accelerator program are already growing. While many are looking for interns, seven of the 10 mobile tech companies in the three-month accelerator are looking to hire staff. The companies, which entered the Kansas City-based accelerator on Feb. 22, each nabbed $120,000 in capital as part of the program,…
New $20M fund supercharges VC dollars in Kansas City
In conjunction with a metro-wide effort to boost the area economy, Kansas City will soon have a new co-investment fund that aims to accelerate early-stage businesses. As part of the KC Rising economic initiative, the “KC Rise Fund” hopes to improve a common gripe in Kansas City’s entrepreneurial community that there’s not enough capital to…
Pinsight Media wants to build your startup’s app for free
A new program at one of Kansas City top mobile tech firms plans to build dozens of mobile apps for as many as 70 startups around the nation. Kansas City-based Pinsight Media+ recently launched its “Rollout” program, which will develop a firm’s Android or iOS app — for free — with the intention of it…
Report: Kansas is more innovation-friendly than Missouri
The Sunflower State is more hospitable to innovation than its eastward neighbor, a recent study found. The Consumer Technology Association’s annual “Innovation Scorecard” ranked all 50 states in 10 different categories to determine which states best fostered innovation and economic growth. The study dished Kansas slightly higher innovation kudos than Missouri, comparing their friendliness to…
Another Uber fiasco? KCMO proposes $600 fee, regulations for Airbnb hosts
Recently proposed city regulations could throw Kansas City home-sharing in the doghouse. More than 100 area hosts and guests of services like Airbnb and VRBO fueled a discussion Monday on home-sharing regulations that the City of Kansas City, Mo., is proposing after complaints of abuse. Led by assistant city manager Rick Usher, city officials met…
Local, artificial intelligence firms enter the Sprint Accelerator
There’s a bit of local flavor in the latest class of startups to enter the Techstars-led Sprint Accelerator. Now hosting its third batch of startup companies, the accelerator welcomed ten new companies to its three-month program, including one from Kansas City and another from Lawrence. Super Dispatch, based in Kansas City, and Mycroft, based in…
Former KC startup eyes nationwide education revamp with merger
About a year after a move from Kansas City to St. Louis, education tech firm myEDmatch has merged with a nationwide teacher recruitment platform. Led by CEO Alicia Herald, myEDmatch will combine its platform connecting teachers and school job openings with St. Louis-based Teachers-Teachers, a firm that focuses on teacher recruitment. The new, yet-to-be-named entity…
State of Entrepreneurship to tackle national ‘startup deficit’
In her second address to the nation, Kauffman Foundation CEO Wendy Guillies on Wednesday will present the seventh-annual “State of Entrepreneurship Address.” Guillies will travel to the National Press Club in Washington D.C. to address the nation’s long-term decline in new business creation, which has created a so-called “startup deficit.” Guillies, who was appointed as…