Investors Stories
Kansas City’s Top VC-Backed Companies in 2019
The Top Venture Capital-Backed Companies List recognizes the momentum pushing an emerging cohort of Kansas City growth-stage, venture-backed companies. Simply put, the list — updated and now published annually — shows a massive increase in venture capital deployed to Kansas City companies in 2019, as well as a significant jump in jobs at those businesses….
Minneapolis angel investment firm expanding to KC, names McCoolidge managing partner
A former leader of the Mid-America Angels fund could be the secret to establishing Minneapolis-based Sofia Fund as a new investment resource for women-led companies within Kansas City, said Cathy Connett. “The Midwest continues to be a hub of startup activity,’ said Connett, Sofia Fund CEO. “Extending our footprint to Kansas City gives us access…
Q&A: Startup life isn’t all risk-taking and sexy, big-name investors, Kelly Sievers says
Investing doesn’t just hinge a dollar amount, said Kelly Sievers. “It’s also about finding the right kind of funding for your business,” the Women’s Capital Connection managing director told 26 small business owners at a recent Kansas City SCORE mentoring event. Sievers, an entrepreneurial advisor for the Women’s Business Center, has owned, operated and sold…
Startup, investor, corporate worlds collide; Ron LeMay’s message for KC: Sit down and talk
Ron LeMay wasn’t willing to watch entrepreneurs flee Kansas City to build their game-changing companies on the coasts, he recalled. “That’s a prescription for disaster over time,” LeMay, CEO of Main Street Data and managing director of Open Air Equity Partners, said of the way he viewed entrepreneurial progress in the City of Fountains as…
$18M buyout of TomboyX shares shows investing in women pays off, says Women’s Capital Connection
Women are winning in Kansas City, said Kelly Sievers as 24 members of Women’s Capital Connection receive their return from an $18-million buyout of their shares in a Seattle woman’s startup. “They’re getting a great infusion of capital to grow even more and we also still have money in the company because we invested a…
