Funding Stories
Hometown startups want their due; sister-led QuickHire’s $1.4M round could be just the start
QuickHire’s potential for success is enhanced — not limited — by the young tech startup’s south-central Kansas geography, said Deborah Gladney, one half of a sister-led Wichita venture that recently announced its $1.4 million round boosted by a leading Kansas City fund. “Being from Wichita, we’ve come to know and appreciate everything this city has to…
Last chance to nominate: KC-based nonprofit granting $40K to Black, Latinx changemakers
A new nonprofit organization is seeking nominations for changemakers in Kansas City’s Black and Latinx communities ahead of a Nov. 30 deadline. One individual will be awarded $20,000 in support of their efforts. “We’re specifically targeting grassroot changemakers who don’t have any more than $250,000 in their annual operating budget. We really want to invest…
Angels in class: How Mizzou’s student-run venture course is investing up to $50K in real startups
Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. COLUMBIA,…
KC’s first Vietnamese coffee shop brews $20K at AltCap Your Biz; other winners include an urban farm, development company and selfie studio
Cafe Cà Phê can now afford to build bathrooms in its anticipated brick-and-mortar coffee location, Jackie Nguyen teased on Instagram after being awarded the grand prize at the 2021 AltCap Your Biz: Pitch Competition. “The $20,000 will go toward helping build that out — getting new appliances, [hiring] new employees because we’ve outgrown our cart….
How Finotta emerged from 2020’s perils with a leap of faith, $3M investment banked
The through line of Parker Graham’s startup journey so far: resiliency. “People like to joke that cockroaches just don’t die,” laughed Graham, reflecting after his fintech company, Finotta — more pheonix rising than cockroach surviving — recently closed a $3 million seed funding round and completely changed the makeup of its team. “I feel like…
