Kat Hungerford
Managing Editor
Recent Articles by Kat Hungerford
Kansas City is a top 10 locale for women-owned businesses
The Kansas City area is a top destination for women to own a business, according to a new report. A study released Monday by personal finance website WalletHub placed Kansas City in the top 10 U.S. cities for women-owned businesses. WalletHub ranked the 100 most-populated metropolitan areas, doling out points for new business friendliness, female…
Locally-made drone designed to save servicemen, civilians’ lives
An injured soldier is miles away from medical help, holed up in a countryside village. Reaching him by medevac helicopter isn’t an option and ground Humvee ambulance will take hours. The soldier doesn’t have hours. Usually, it’s a scenario that unfortunately results in death. But Pulse Aerospace, based in Lawrence, Kan., is working to change…
Fighting the Silicon Valley monster and why startups leave the Midwest
Here’s this week’s dish on the booming ed tech sector, how other communities can contend with Silicon Valley and the realities of startup relocation. Check out more in this series here. Biz News: How the rest of America can compete with Silicon Valley Silicon Valley is the “center of the new-business universe,” according to Dileep…
Ahead of Valentine’s, e-commerce floral shop Zinnia prunes itself to grow
Zinnia is not your mom-and-pop local florist — although the company did have a brief iteration as one lasting about a blink last year. It’s also not your big-box, online flower retailer — although their ecommerce site is a beautiful example of what a website focused on the customer experience can look like. The company…
Google Fiber offering free gigabit to low-income homes
Access to the Internet is almost universally agreed to be a defining sign of progress in third-world countries. Yet millions of citizens across the U.S. still sit on the wrong side of the digital divide. The vast majority of these citizens have one thing in common: they live in low-income households, where cost outweighs the…
KU to host area startups for career day
The University of Kansas on Wednesday announced its largest-ever multi-disciplinary career fair for startups in the Midwest. The Startup Job and Internship Fair — set for March 1 — will connect students studying everything from engineering to design with startups from Kansas, Missouri and Nebraska. The fair is open to any and all area small…
A vibrant arts culture leads to innovation and why hometown investors are vital
Here’s this week’s dish on why the arts community shouldn’t be a benched player on the sidelines of a city’s economy game; the importance of hometown investors to thriving startup communities; and what universities are doing to keep the talent pipeline strong for an entrepreneurial future. Check out more in this series here. The Atlantic…
Mid-America Angels’ injects $2.8M into nine startups during 2015
The Mid-America Angels, a Kansas City area-based angel investor network, closed 2015 on a high note with more than $2.8 million invested in nine ventures. The 2015 investment total is a near-20 percent increase in capital from 2014’s roughly $2.3 million invested. Rick Vaughn, the MAA’s managing director, said last year also was the most…
Digital Sandbox KC funding three UMKC student-led startups
Kansas City business incubator Digital Sandbox KC selected three student-led companies for proof-of-concept funding support Tuesday. The enterprises were selected from the University of Missouri-Kansas City’s E-Scholar program and will join three other E-Scholar companies selected in June as part of Digital Sandbox’s partnership with UMKC. Each student startup will receive $10,000 in project development…
Why coastal investors ignore the Midwest and what’s next for federal startup policy
Here are this week’s watercooler conversation-starters on why inland states struggle to find funding, coming issues in federal entrepreneurship policy and the success of innovation districts that are cropping up around the U.S. (and in Kansas City). More in this series here. International Business Times: Finding venture capital far from the coasts Of the $48.3…