Startups Stories

Beating the boys club: Mother of three hits the mat with girls wrestling shoes

Anything guys can do, girls and women just might be doing better, Deb North said.  “Our whole goal is to support girls in this process and build them up and be their cheerleaders,” North, founder of Yes! Athletics, explained of the social enterprise — which recently launched The Defiant 1 wrestling shoe, a breathable, lightweight, eco-friendly shoe…

Olathe-built COVID-fighting biotech could be ‘Coolest Thing made in Kansas’ — Voting now open

An Olathe startup that began offering its biotech to researchers in April — just as the pandemic hit — already is receiving statewide recognition for a product that ultimately could help take down COVID-19. T-Blocks were announced Wednesday as one of the Top 16 nominees for the Kansas Chamber’s “Coolest Thing Made in Kansas” prize,…

Blake Miller, Homebase

Meet the No Coast winners: Homebase founder, Garmin lead 2020 KC tech honors

Tech is a team sport — a reality undefeated by COVID-19, the KC Tech Council said Wednesday, capping a two-day virtual No Coast ceremony that recognized the interconnectedness of Kansas City’s tech community with entrepreneurship, corporate innovation, education and policy. Among the first winners unveiled: veteran startup founder and CEO Blake Miller, whose Homebase.ai employs 25…

Darren Winterford, EdApp CEO, and Luke Anear, SafetyCulture CEO; photo courtesy of Business Wire

SafetyCulture deepens its COVID response with $29M acquisition of ‘micro-learning’ app

An Australian startup with a significant presence in Kansas City has acquired a mobile training app to boost COVID-era education for businesses through free “micro-learning” resources. “We’re experiencing the biggest workplace shake-up since economies were rebuilt after World War II. This is not survival of the fittest, this is survival of those that can adapt,”…

Leslie Scott, Re.Use.Full

‘Labor of love’: Leslie Scott’s decade-long mission to pair donors, nonprofits launches

A years-long project to help non-profits connect with donors is now a reality — thanks in large part to a government-issued economic stimulus check.  “Because of my stimulus payment, I was able to actually pay a friend who’s a WordPress developer to do the site,” said Leslie Scott, non-profit advocate and founder of Re.Use.Full — a…