Social Venture Studio
Eyes on City Hall, White House: His app wants to break social media’s grip on your politics
A fractured news and social media ecosystem driven by biased algorithms makes it more difficult than ever to confidently vote based on facts — or even just understand the news of the day, said Mychal Shaw, touting the rapidly increasing but evergreen need for his civic literacy app. “I was raised in a family of…
Trailblazer on Troost among honored innovators for UMKC’s Entrepreneur of the Year Awards
This year’s signature Bloch School celebration — set for Dec. 3 — heralds the efforts and successes of experts in grassroots community-building, financial planning, DNA science Earning the top social entrepreneurship award from UMKC is more than just the greatest recognition Father Justin Mathews has ever received, the faith leader-turned-community innovator said; it’s validation that…
CoBuild founder razes his social venture; now he’s banking its mission’s success on a new blueprint
Closing his startup CoBuild was bittersweet for Tate Williams, but the mission that drove the company isn’t going away. Instead, he’s carrying it forward in a new role at the Central Bank of Kansas City. Williams officially shut down CoBuild this January. The construction startup, launched in 2018, had built a reputation for opening doors…
Meet LaunchKC’s new social venture cohort: Bold builders going beyond buzzwords (and Kansas City)
A reputation of strength within Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem helped convince Darian Jones — a St. Louis native now based in Austin, Texas — to apply for LaunchKC’s fourth Social Venture Studio cohort, he shared Wednesday during a reveal event for the program. Tribal Tech Innovations was one of seven social ventures announced by LaunchKC…
Storytailor pivots its AI-infused storytelling tech into therapy tool to combat childhood traumas
Kansas City-built Storytailor has a new pitch for parents facing a world of screen time: using its tech platform as a key resource for children’s mental health via therapeutic storytelling. “As adults, we often turn to comedy, satire, or metaphorical fiction to process our emotions,” shared JQ Sirls, founder and CEO of Storytailor. “Children do…
