Meghan LeVota
Recent Articles by Meghan LeVota
Kansas City startups flex pitch skills in national Kauffman contest
Four Kansas City area startups — and one Lawrence, Kan. firm — have qualified to the top 40 of Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation’s 1 in a Million pitch competition. The competition offers those who have presented at 1 Million Cups in the last year a chance to snag a $25,000 prize. Hundreds of applicants — who…
Big Bang leverages smart city success, LaunchKC momentum
Editor’s note: This content is sponsored by LaunchKC but independently produced by Startland News. As Kansas City becomes a hotbed for smart city tech, one local startup is providing a spine for streamlined communication among the devices cities will leverage. Kansas City-based Big Bang’s Internet of Things software aims to work as the “central nervous…
Growing tech startup Campus Eye wants to make schools safer
College campuses aren’t the safest place to be. Nearly one in four female college students in the U.S. have experienced sexual assault. In the same study, 11 percent of female college students said they’ve experienced rape. And since 2013, there has been more than 76 instances of gun violence on college campuses. Campus Eye founder…
UK firm lured by Kansas City’s charm, opportunity
Born in South Africa and a resident of Great Britain for over a decade, Fred Hefer, CEO of Pomerol Partners, never would have guessed he’d be moving his family to Kansas City. “Really? This place in the middle of America?” Hefer said. “With the tornados and the story about Dorothy?” Hefer said his wife and…
KCRise fund lands $10M to kickoff startup investing
Kansas City-area startups have a new, local fund to boost their investment rounds. The KCRise fund announced Thursday the closing of $10 million that will co-invest with institutional venture capital groups in early-stage companies based in the Kansas City area. Launched in February in conjunction with the KC Rising economic initiative, the fund was created…
Tech leaders: KC is built to be a hub for driverless cars
The Obama administration on Tuesday revealed a set of guidelines for automakers to ensure a safe, efficient rollout of self-driving vehicles in the United States. The rapid development of autonomous vehicle tech, according to the administration, makes it clear that its emergence into American’s everyday life is no longer a question of if — but…
Olathe partnership bears fruit in latest Digital Sandbox cohort
With the buzz of Techweek KC still in the air, Kansas City-based incubator Digital Sandbox reveals the four new startups in their program. Directed by Jeff Shackleford, Digital Sandbox invests up to $25,000 in area companies and provides proof-of-concept resources. Launching in 2013, the incubator has worked with over 300 entrepreneurs and early stage companies…
Coworking studio the GRID marks grand opening in Overland Park
Already popular in downtown Kansas City, coworking options are now expanding further south into the metro area. Jennifer Stearns, community manager at the relatively-new GRID collaborative workspaces in Overland Park, said that coworking has a bright future in not only Kansas City but also in its suburbs. The facility opened their doors in April, but…
WillCo Technologies hiring 90 people after snagging energy-saving patent
The average american household wastes up to 61 percent of its energy input. Kevin Williams, CEO of WillCo Technologies, said that this is because of the way electrical grids are designed. Although the average consumer requires significantly less power during school and work hours, the grid keeps energy limits consistently high in order to sustain through…
Look into serial entrepreneur Jeff Hoffman’s toolkit of inspiration
“What if you applied the skills of entrepreneurship to everything that you do?” serial entrepreneur Jeff Hoffman asked a crowd at Union Station on Thursday. As Hoffman took the stage as Techweek Kansas City’s keynote speaker, he did just that. Applying the skill of “adaptability,” he decided to nix his slide deck and improvise. A…