The brand of freedom sold to viewers of one of the nation’s most-watched cable news networks doesn’t reflect the kind Abraham Sisay has come to know, he declared, looking back on his journey from rising Gambian soccer star to Kansas City filmmak... Read more
Spring in the face of ‘doom and gloom’: KC Can Compost grows green infrastructure while expanding its own footprint
The market for commercial composting services goes well beyond restaurants hoping to dispose of food scraps — a welcome discovery for Kristan Chamberlain, who saw such specialized demand disintegrate in 2020 amid a pile of bad news for strugglin... Read more
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, w... Read more
There’s no glossing over it, Kenyata Gant said. Black-owned businesses are thriving in the Midwest — and big box retailers are taking notice. “I couldn’t believe it,” recalled Gant, owner of Pink Lipps Cosmetics, announcing the Kansas City-base... Read more
Innovators can’t do it alone; C3KC conference calls for cross-sector attack on wealth gap, KC’s biggest pain points
Editor’s note: Startland News is a media sponsor for the Junior League of Kansas City’s C3KC conference. Click here for tickets to the event, which features a keynote address by best-selling author Adam Grant. Challenges abound in Ka... Read more
Deploying tech to today’s American warfighter: FirePoint taps startup space to help modernize military
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, w... Read more
WATCH: Small biz struggles didn’t begin with pandemic pinch, says Rep. Davids; solutions go beyond COVID relief
The effects of the COVID-19 pandemic exposed and exaggerated pain points that small business owners were already facing before the global health crisis, said U.S. Rep. Sharice Davids. “I really think that what the pandemic did was, in some ways,... Read more
They want to create a SXSW-style festival in KC, but City of Entrepreneurs’ plans for Black founders dig even deeper
Activation is just the beginning for organizers of a new, high-profile partnership that aims to boost Black business owners — starting in Kansas City — via programming, resources, major events and a soon-to-be announced accelerator. Entrepreneur... Read more
Two Kansas companies engineer tool to vaporize hard-to-reach tumors with microwave tech
A Prairie Village product design firm is helping a nearby Kansas startup advance groundbreaking medical technology to treat previously-inoperable cancer tumors with minimally-invasive surgery. “Most of us have been affected by cancer through fam... Read more
A $3 million injection of funding for Lula means more jobs for Kansas City, revealed Bo Lais. But that’s not all it signals, he added, noting the fast-growing startup to watch is well on its way to achieving major milestones in 2022. “We truly... Read more