St. Louis

  • Free three-day virtual summit to be held by gener8tor

    Free three-day virtual summit to be held by gener8tor

    The 2021 gener8tor CommUNITY Growth Summit will be held virtually from March 30 to April 1 and features keynote speakers, fireside chats and panel discussions involving representatives from startups, the arts and workforce development. The event will be hosted by gener8tor, a Silicon Prairie-based entrepreneurship cultivation platform that includes startup accelerators, corporate programming and conferences. …

  • GiftAMeal continues to expand reach of hunger-fighting app with new chain restaurant partnership

    GiftAMeal continues to expand reach of hunger-fighting app with new chain restaurant partnership

    GiftAMeal, a mobile app that helps people discover new restaurants and provide meals to the food-insecure, announced today that it has teamed up with Lion’s Choice, a St. Louis-based regional chain (with locations throughout Missouri, Illinois, and Kansas City) that has been serving roast beef sandwiches since 1967. Beginning today, Lion’s Choice customers are eligible…

  • Venture Café St. Louis announces first expert-in-residence for new EdHub program

    Venture Café St. Louis announces first expert-in-residence for new EdHub program

    Venture Café St. Louis, a nonprofit organization connecting aspiring entrepreneurs and founders, recently launched an expert-in-residence program to support individuals and teams building early-stage startups and education programs that address educational inequity and other systemic challenges. Part of the organization’s EdHub initiative, the expert-in-residence program will feature Dr. Marcus Howard as its first expert. Howard…

  • HTI Labs fights human trafficking through research, technology, policy

    HTI Labs fights human trafficking through research, technology, policy

    An Omaha-based company using a data-driven approach to combat human trafficking recently raised funding to expand its crucially needed work to support law enforcement, victims and survivors of the practice.  HTI Labs,  a social enterprise corporation combating human trafficking, domestic violence and sexual assault through data-driven research and tech, has grown far larger than CEO…

  • Companies find ways to fight hunger using technology in the Midwest

    Companies find ways to fight hunger using technology in the Midwest

    As food insecurity rates have nearly doubled in Nebraska since March, local food banks and community nonprofits have expanded their tech resources, and a new field of innovation is emerging to serve their needs.   Since the onset of COVID-19 restrictions began in March, Nebraska’s yearly unemployment rate has risen from 3.1 to 5.2 percent, bringing…

  • IO2020: the New Innovators’ Summit connects entrepreneurial community (and tickets are free this year)

    IO2020: the New Innovators’ Summit connects entrepreneurial community (and tickets are free this year)

    Great ideas start with curiosity. Bringing those ideas to life is its own challenge.  That’s what longtime entrepreneur Brian Ardinger believes, and that’s why he’s made it his mission to help Nebraska startup founders, business leaders and innovators solve those challenges.  Ardinger is cofounder of InsideOutside.io, an innovation-focused resource network for startups, entrepreneurs, investors, enterprises,…

  • Developing Leadership When Things Are Not Good

    Developing Leadership When Things Are Not Good

    Originally posted on the AIM Institute blog No one knows how the coronavirus pandemic will evolve, how long the economy will stay underwater, or even what recovery looks like.  But the radical workplace upheaval and sudden ad hoc shift to remote technology over the past month suggest two truths:  We need more tech talent.   We…

  • In midst of COVID-19, St. Louis-based GiftAMeal supports hungry people, restaurants

    In midst of COVID-19, St. Louis-based GiftAMeal supports hungry people, restaurants

    Andrew Glantz embodies the spirit of altruistic entrepreneurship. As a teen, Glantz served for 4 years as VP of the Southern California children’s charity Jr. Variety, planning fundraisers that obtained over $400,000 for various children’s causes. In college, he co-owned a nonprofit storefront promoting reuse and sustainability. And in October 2015, while still a junior…

  • Creating a culture of self-care and wealth equity in the software industry

    Creating a culture of self-care and wealth equity in the software industry

    Gv Freeman wanted to cultivate joy and reduce suffering in the software industry. Having grown up feeling out-of-the-loop in Central Nebraska, the St. Louis-based entrepreneur burned extra hours to find opportunities in the tech industry. Self-care wasn’t a priority. It wasn’t even on his radar. In true startup spirit, he singlemindedly drove himself to build…

  • FinTech Company, FinLocker, Raises Big Round

    FinTech Company, FinLocker, Raises Big Round

    According to SEC filings, St. Louis based FinLocker has raised a $10.389 million round from the St. Louis Arch Angels and other undisclosed investors. FinLocker is a software tool for individual consumers seeking to improve their financial position and literacy.  The company specifically helps aggregate a consumer’s financial data and then analyzes and recommends mortgage…