Art teacher-turned-maker: You don’t need to be in a museum to be a ‘real artist’ (or full-time to be an entrepreneur)
Amid the hustle and bustle of raising a young family and teaching elementary school art, Sara Kharatyan sneaks away to her kiln. It’s her quiet place; a spot just for her, tucked away in her Parkville home. And what started as a hobby is... Read more
DashNow pivot from QR tech to text trigger helps keep JoCo startup, hundreds of restaurants serving
In an entrepreneurial landscape chewed up by social distancing, it’s feast or famine for local restaurants — but DashNow has a recipe for recovery, said Brett Karlin. “The value is being able to work with these local businesses. To help them ou... Read more
Rise Up, Get Started winners: Building a second chance as job market sputters
A slowly recovering job market is pushing more people — many of whom previously didn’t imagine ever running their own businesses — into entrepreneurship, said Kyle J. Smith. “The Kauffman Foundation would say they’re starting a business out of n... Read more
Editor’s note: The opinions expressed in this commentary are the author’s alone. Chris Brown is the founder of Venture Legal where he represents startups, freelancers, and small businesses. This column — originally published by Venture Legal and... Read more
First look: Excitement builds as Spark KC nears summer coworking debut at Two Light
As Kyla Bradley closed the door to a 22-person suite within the new Spark Kansas City coworking space, the sound of ongoing construction on the first two floors of Two Light nearly vanished. “It’s not technically ‘sound-proofed’ in h... Read more
As an intentionally lowered screen begins to lift on Tesseract Ventures, once-seemingly-wild ideas that lived only in tech inventor John Boucard’s head are being realized. With them, the future of work is taking shape — 3D-printed piece by 3D-pr... Read more
KingFit acquisition fuels expansion plans in Mexico, focuses bilingual health tech startup
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
Ronawk cultivates first funding round, fight against COVID-19 from new Olathe lab
As COVID-19 continues to wage war on the world, researchers in an Olathe-based lab are generating trillions of human cells that could be used to cure the ever-lingering virus. “It eliminates a lot of the work that’s needed,” A.J. Mellott,... Read more
KC Crew dives into virtual entertainment, surviving long enough to reopen summer sports
When COVID-19 shut down organized sports across the city, Luke and Katy Wade went back to the basics to keep KC Crew active — putting a virtual spin on classic entertainment options. “Who would have thought bingo you know?” Luke Wade said, refer... Read more
Editor’s note: The following story is sponsored by CommunityAmerica Credit Union, a partner of STARTLAND, the parent organization of Startland News. Click here to learn about CommunityAmerica’s coming financial literacy webinar series for parent... Read more