Startup Weekend’s challenge: Build Missouri’s next billion-dollar idea (in three days)
COLUMBIA, Missouri — Budding entrepreneurs are gathering next month for a three-day business pitch event that could earn them $45,000 in prizes plus a $150,000 investment opportunity for the winning company with billion-dollar potential, organiz... Read more
Midwest-focused M25 rolls out new venture partners across region, adding high-profile STL founder
CHICAGO — An influential venture capital firm with portfolio companies in Kansas City and across the region on Thursday announced a St. Louis serial entrepreneur as the latest venture partner joining its mission to back a new generation of Midwe... Read more
Roster filled: 32 Kansas startups march into Round 2 of tourney-style pitch competition
WICHITA — Nearly three dozen Sunflower State startups are vying for $20,000 in prize money — and courting the attention of investors — as they advance to the second round of an innovative, state-backed pitch competition set amid the excitement o... Read more
Physician assistant, mom juggles healthy challenge: opening two Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchises
A new Tropical Smoothie Cafe franchisee is opening not one, but two locations this spring — all while keeping her day job and raising twin 4-year-olds. Nikki Vogel is taking over 2,200-square-feet in the former Calibration Brewery building at 11... Read more
Yard Milkshake Bar set to open Friday in long-vacant BK Whopper Bar at Power & Light
Kansas City is gaining a new sweet spot as the acclaimed dessert startup The Yard Milkshake Bar opens its first metro location this week in the Power & Light District — filling a long-standing hunger for the right flavor of business at PNC P... Read more
Randy Wasinger wanted the 1952 Topps of NFTs; so the lifelong baseball card collector started coding (and Mark Cuban came calling)
Editor’s note: The following includes excerpts from “The Corporate Couch” podcast as part of a collaboration between host Jeff Pelaccio and Startland News to highlight Web3 companies and founders in the space. The 15-year-old b... Read more
Transportant picked a lane; now the Lenexa bus tech startup wants to conquer even more of the road
From the driver’s seat, Martin Staples is steering Lenexa-based Transportant toward rapid growth with its real-time, tech-driven approach, he said, bringing greater safety, communication, and efficiency to school buses and expanding the startup’... Read more
What comes after the World Cup? Leaders ponder KC’s next phase (and how to get there)
Editor’s note: The following is the first in a four-part series exploring the verticals and impact of initiatives within the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City through a paid partnership with EDCKC. EDCKC leader: Tapping Kansas City... Read more
Editor’s note: This article was written for a class at the University of Kansas’ William Allen White School of Journalism and Mass Communications and distributed through the Kansas Press Association. TOPEKA — A bill seeking to ban DeepSeek, a Ch... Read more
Why KCMO pushed to lock down ‘Kansas City’ brand ahead of its biggest sports event yet
With World Cup visitors already eyeing plane tickets to Kansas City for matches opening in June 2026, clarity around what constitutes “Kansas City” will be key, said Quinton Lucas, who in late 2024 made moves to restrict labeling the city’s name... Read more