Meghan LeVota
Recent Articles by Meghan LeVota
Kauffman Foundation, Uber launch grant contest for women-led startups
Female entrepreneurs in Kansas City may not have the luxury of riding a “glass escalator,” but on Oct. 26 they can take an Uber ride for a chance at $120,000. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation on Tuesday announced UberPITCH, a nationwide pitch competition in partnership with Uber and business accelerator The Refinery. Women-led startups will…
5 glimpses into Uber VP Brian McClendon’s crystal ball
Brian McClendon — vice president of maps and business platform at Uber — may reside in Silicon Valley, but his roots are here in the prairie. Originally from Lawrence, Kan., McClendon graduated from the University of Kansas with a degree in electrical engineering and now serves on several advisory boards for his alma mater. Sporting…
An innovation ‘bromance’ brews in Kansas City leadership
If a blossoming collaboration between two city leaders is any indication, innovation knows no borders in the Kansas City metro. Bob Bennett, chief innovation officer for Kansas City, Mo., and Alan Howze, chief knowledge office for the Unified Government of Wyandotte County and Kansas City, Kan., both share a common goal: they believe that open…
Kauffman Foundation offers $25K via ‘1 in a Million’ contest
Think your business is one in a million? The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is offering 1 Million Cups presenters from the last year a chance to snag some cash — and this year they’ve bumped up the prize to $25,000. In its second year, the 1 in a Million competition is open to any firm…
KC startups nab first, second place in national contest
Two Kansas City startups recently reigned supreme in UPS’s inagural Midwest X-Port Challenge. Mobility Designed, a medical device company from Prairie Village, Kan. that is also a 2016 LaunchKC grant finalist, won first place. The startup has garnered international attention thanks a viral video featuring their futuristic crutches. Mobility Designed CEO Liliana Younger said that…
Striving to change KC culture, LiveKC launches app
Millennials now make up the largest portion of the working population. A generation growing up with fast-paced technology in hand, Kansas City will have to move quickly to keep ahead of the curve and to attract and retain young talent. In order to do that, the LiveKC initiative was born in order to make Kansas…
Kansas City to become gigabit testbed with first-in-U.S. infrastructure
Since the arrival of Google Fiber in 2012, Kansas City has been buzzing with excitement about gigabit internet and how it can benefit citizens. Gigabit-fast speeds are convenient for individuals and businesses alike, but one question has remained unanswered: how does a community — especially one trying to build a smart city — take advantage…
KCMO reveals seven innovation partners and inaugural demo day
Mayor Sly James on Tuesday announced seven partners for the 2016 Innovation Partnership Program and the program’s new accelerator-like approach. Now in its second year, the IPP provides select startups with city data and infrastructure at no cost and the opportunity to develop, test and demonstrate innovative solutions for the city. For the first time, the…
With traction in tow, Super Dispatch is a model ‘lean startup’
Super Dispatch began like every tech startup: with a good idea. But as founder Bek Abdullayev will tell you, it takes more than that to be successful. In 2013, Abdullayev founded Super Dispatch, a software-as-a-service platform for the trucking industry intended to eliminate paperwork. Super Dispatch streamlines the communication of documents between truckers and their…
‘Makerspace in the ‘Hood’ wants to smother poverty and crime with creativity
Every successful entrepreneur is born with a seed of opportunity. It is impossible for one person to be successful on their own; whether you extend gratitude to your family for their support, your university for its resources, or the angel investor who believed in you when nobody else did. Now imagine you grew up in…