Hometown startup launches Swappa Local in KC, trading tech junk sellers for secure deals
A firsthand experience with a mysterious Craigslist seller served as fuel for Kansas City-listed startup Swappa’s latest innovation of the local marketplace: Swappa Local. “I exchanged money with the seller, we both drove off, leaving the parki... Read more
Latest Digital Sandbox startups: Connecting solutions on climate change, supply chain, child therapy and voter education
Four new companies welcomed this week into the fold at Digital Sandbox KC help showcase the ongoing success of the 6-year-old proof-of-concept program, said Jeff Shackelford. “We’ve now provided project development funding for 118 area startups,... Read more
Gratitude powered down the sixth cohort of the Sprint and Dairy Farmers of America-backed Corporate Accelerator Thursday. “I do have one more person that I need to acknowledge and that person is Doug Dresslear,” Tina Peterson, manager of the Spr... Read more
KCMO advancing its smart city action plan with focus on digital equity in urban tech
Kansas City is one step closer to being a fully connected hub for urban tech, as local decision makers craft a smart city action plan. “That document will be what guides all of our future investments in technology,” explained Chris Hernandez, KC... Read more
Whether directing a contemporary indigenous stage performance, covering the Beatles classic Elanor Rigby with a pan flute and charango for TEDxKC or creating a diatonically-tuned bendy-straw, Amado Espinoza understands the importance of fully co... Read more
LaunchKC, Nueterra Capital announce health accelerator with $50K, plus resources for each startup in cohort
Adding its third vertical in less than a year, LaunchKC will expand its grant opportunities deployment with the new LaunchKC Health Accelerator aimed at improving patient outcomes, the program announced Thursday. “LaunchKC continues to see mome... Read more
Kauffman Foundation’s Erin Jenkins bounces between contrasting cultures, startup life
Editor’s note: This content was sponsored by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation but independently produced by Startland News. Curiosity took Erin Jenkins to Japan. Curiosity brought her home. In between, she embedded herself in the worlds of i... Read more
Cherry on top: 9-year-old baking entrepreneur cuts check to pay off KC students’ negative lunch balances
Baking is the perfect recipe for spreading joy — owning a small business should be too, said 9-year-old Ire Cherry, recalling the moment she stood before administrators at University Academy in Kansas City, holding a check wider than she is tall... Read more
Only 56 percent of students who began college in 2012 actually graduated within the next six years, said startup founders Claudia Recchi and Carolina Recchi. The sisters’ own struggles as first-generation U.S. college students reinforced the cha... Read more
Everything has to ship, said Jy Maze. From the microphone in her hand to the stool where she sat to the shoes on the Maze Freight Solutions founder’s feet, it all comes with mileage and a cost, she said. Her woman-owned, Overland Park-based, thi... Read more



























