News Stories
Why a KC real estate icon is letting urban artists spray paint his high-profile Plaza building (again)
A massive, five-story mural project launched on the Country Club Plaza in late 2020 will grow even bigger over the next week, painting the potential for more representation in an otherwise traditional — and earth tone — Kansas City shopping district and neighborhood. “It adds a lot of conversation and excitement — and it shows an opportunity…
Product without a pitch deck: How one startup tech veteran is seeding his new venture with ‘something real’
Ryan Townsend has worked within some of Kansas City’s most headline-grabbing startups for years, but now he’s taking the lead with his product-driven venture Hively — focusing specifically on bringing a mobile-first solution to event management. “I’ve always been the technology guy,” Townsend said, referencing his time as chief technology officer at such companies as…
Pipeline pilots new ‘Pathway’ cohort to boost womxn, minority, rural founders into scaling position
Editor’s note: Pipeline Entrepreneurs, a network and fellowship of high-performing entrepreneurs in the Midwest, is a community partner and financial supporter of Startland News. A new fellowship program designed exclusively for underserved entrepreneurs is expected to help better prepare founders who identify as womxn, minority, or are leading a business in a rural community to…
Exclusive listen: Coffee entrepreneur, bandmates tease new music, how they find harmony between notes
Golden Groves was ready to pour its music for audiences in 2020, but when stages across the world — including Boulevardia in Kansas City — went dark, members of the local indie rock band refined their flavor. “Our collective history is with jazz and rock in roll, but we each bring in our own unique musical…
In the Black: Why Venture Noire is bringing capital resources from Arkansas to KC’s founders of color
It’s time Black-led companies went from over-mentored and under-resourced to well-connected and infused with capital, Keenan Beasley said, announcing plans for establishing more equitable entrepreneurial ecosystems that begin, in part, with a presence in Kansas City. “Kansas City is a very mature market,” Beasley, founder of Venture Noire, said of what he’s observed among the…
