Startland News Staff
Recent Articles by Startland News Staff
Worker wearables startup Kenzen earns $1M capital injection from Fenaroli-led Overland Park investor
Kansas City-worn Kenzen is rolling into 2021 with new funding and partnerships pushing the wearables startup into overdrive. The company announced a $1 million injection of funding from Overland Park-based Examinetics — a portfolio company of New York-based Freedom 3 Capital — Wednesday. “The Kenzen solution is gaining momentum. This alliance with Examinetics will broaden the team…
Effort to grow startup capital for Black-owned businesses: Our work in KC has just begun
A nonprofit that’s raised more than a quarter million dollars in eight months to provide grants to Black small business owners says a diverse range of Kansas City entrepreneurs already has asked for help — and their needs go beyond the obvious. “Normally when people think of Black-owned businesses here in Kansas City, most immediately think…
KC business survey: Entrepreneurs increasingly confident in full recovery from pandemic
Business owners are feeling more optimistic about the future of their companies, according to a survey of 236 businesses and nonprofits newly released by the Greater Kansas City Area Chamber of Commerce. “By nature, entrepreneurs and small business owners are problem solvers — they rise to a challenge — and 2020 certainly doled out more than…
10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2021
In a world disrupted, entrepreneurs are leading the charge — remaking their communities in the image of innovation and meeting a rising demand for solutions to real-world problems. The future newsmakers assembled as part of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2021 list are eager to reinvent. They’re simplifying over-complicated industries and blazing bold…
Meet the latest tech startups joining the ranks of Digital Sandbox KC in the new year
A new year means a jump-started opening for Splitsy and two other Kansas City startups joining the roster of Digital Sandbox KC-funded companies, said Brad Starnes. “We could not thank the Sandbox enough for the opportunity to be in a position to dominate our market quickly and efficiently,” said Starnes, president and co-founder of Olathe-based…
Fund Me, KC: Tohi Ventures pours pandemic lemons into healthy drink donation effort
Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs — like Shari Coulter Ford’s campaign to donate healthy drinks to food banks — to share their crowdfunding stories to gain a little help…
Mayo Clinic partnership proves TripleBlind’s privacy tech can be applied to healthcare, co-founder says
A new partnership with Mayo Clinic will put Kansas City-stored TripleBlind’s data privacy promise to the test. “We hope to demonstrate the potential of applying TripleBlind’s data privacy and data clean room solution to accelerate how we develop, test, and deploy AI solutions in healthcare, particularly amidst heavily regulated privacy concerns,” Riddhiman Das, co-founder and…
Startups to Watch celebration set to premiere in early 2021 as digital interview special
If 2020 proved one thing, it’s that innovation can’t be tamed, Austin Barnes said in announcement of a 2021 return for the hotly anticipated Kansas City Startups to Watch list and the debut of a corresponding digital interview special. “Our team of reporters has been masked up and on the ground since Day 1,” Barnes,…
KCSourceLink to pandemic-prompted entrepreneurs: 8 no-cost, low-cost classes to help start a dream business
As Kansas Citians reel from the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, many are turning to entrepreneurship, reports ecosystem builder KCSourceLink, citing a 367 percent increase in the number of people who reported starting a business. The nonprofit, which helps new and seasoned entrepreneurs start and grow businesses by connecting them to more than 240 business-building resources in…
$1M investment in new impact fund to boost minority and women-owned ventures in KC
A $1 million cash injection from The Sunderland Foundation will further efforts to bolster the only impact-oriented, opportunity zone fund focused entirely on Kansas City. equity2 Partners announced the investment Tuesday, marking a significant milestone for the mission driven impact investment firm which has committed to deploying capital in inclusive and equitable ways — especially amid the…