Startups Stories
Tiki Bar T-Shirt Club revives now-closed beachy haunts, celebrates era of the side hustle
Tiki Bar culture is a quirky niche for a Kansas City-based side hustle, admitted Bryan Azorsky, but rapidly evolving online tools that eliminate middlemen help make such passions profitable and scalable. “I think the future is really people having more than one job in a way. They may have their main job and then they…
Launch Health check-up: TheraWe Connect bridging gap between parents, pediatric therapy
Editor’s note: The following is part of a series of stories on the six cohort companies of the Launch Health Accelerator, powered by Nueterra Capital and sponsored by LaunchKC. Click here to read all the stories published in this series. Opportunity unlocked, it’s full steam ahead for TheraWe Connect as the startup prepares to check out…
Launch Health check-up: medZERO simplifies medical bill pay with zero interest, zero fees
Editor’s note: The following is part of a series of stories on the six cohort companies of the Launch Health Accelerator, powered by Nueterra Capital and sponsored by LaunchKC. Click here to read all the stories published in this series. Paying medical bills should be as simple as making a car payment, said Mike Sobek. “We…
KC boutique big data startup Yotabites planned its big exit for 2025 — a buyer came five years early
Starting with a laser-focus on attacking big data’s fundamental problems, Lenexa-based Yotabites is announcing its acquisition from Oregon-based ProKarma, said Rajesh Nair, noting the sale fell many years ahead of schedule for the forward-thinking startup. “It really started out as a combination of things for us: from [seeing a lack of] creativity in the big…
Mass Street fire leaves future uncertain for Blade & Timber’s Lawrence store
An early morning fire at Blade & Timber’s Massachusetts Street location in Lawrence has left the premier axe-throwing startup waiting for answers, said Matt Baysinger. “While it’s a surreal experience to learn that your business is on fire and that there’s nothing you can do about it, I’m incredibly grateful that nobody was in the…
