Startups Stories

How one startup’s new marketplace is putting last-minute, hard-to-find phones, gaming systems under the tree

With standard shipping deadlines expiring and days ticking away before Christmas, a new marketplace extension — Swappa Local — is helping gift-givers get their hands on gently used tech before the holidays. “It’s a game changer right now because you can’t turn on the news without hearing about all the shipping delays,” said Sara Beane, media…

Idle Smart team: Kaley Lester, Brayden Jensen and Andrew Smith

How a KC partnership helped Idle Smart avoid a cold start that could’ve stalled its recovery

Editor’s note: The following story is sponsored by Academy Bank, a Kansas City based community bank, and is part of a series of features spotlighting some of the bank’s startup and small business partners. Wasted time is wasted money — a notion at the forefront of Idle Smart, a Kansas City IoT tech company built…

Amos King, Binary Noggin

KC software team of three builds $3.5M insurance risk management app from scratch

A New York-based insurance management startup recently closed a $3.5 million funding round for its new end-to-end platform — an application built entirely by Kansas City software developer Binary Noggin. billy, a construction-specific insurance management and tracking application headquartered in Brooklyn, sought out Binary Noggin’s services early this year for developing its software. The startup…

Brian McClendon

Former Google, Uber exec joins maker of Pokémon Go — and he’s building a team of developers in Lawrence

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. Brian…

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…