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AutoCorrect Switch app aims to rein in power of smartphone prediction
Today’s smartphone-powered world has reached a point that stories of autocorrect gone awry have achieved almost urban-legend status. Everyone, it seems, has an anecdote of autocorrect out of control. Heck, there are entire websites dedicated to the confusing, humorous and oftentimes excruciatingly awkward outcomes produced when a phone has a mind of its own. Now,…
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Reinvigorated Hatchlings founder makes hires, enters ‘re-startup’ phase
There’s nothing quite like quality face time with enthusiastic users and a big IPO from a competitor to renew a startup’s zest for pursuing aggressive growth. That’s a lesson learned recently by Brad Dwyer, the Panora, Iowa-based founder of Hatchlings. Dwyer created Hatchlings, a Facebook game that revolves around finding, collecting and hatching virtual Easter…
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New app aims to take guesswork out of Des Moines drink deals
A new mobile app touted by its creators as “the first of its kind … created exclusively for Des Moines” aims to take the guesswork out of finding the top drink deals in Des Moines. Let’s Drink, created by Punch Media of Des Moines, is an app designed to help users save money by finding…
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Amidst rapid growth, Front Flip hopes success is in the cards
One of the fastest growing startups in the Kansas City area is making a big bet that its cards can trump the competition. Front Flip, a customer engagement platform based in Overland Park, Kan., launched in the Kansas City market on Nov. 4 and already has about 300 businesses and nearly 40,000 individual users on…
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Q&A: Fred Coulson on Five Elms, funding region ‘for decades to come’
After spending years on the East Coast and overseas working stints with TH Lee Putnam Ventures, Morgan Stanley and Citibank, Fred Coulson returned to his Midwestern roots in 2006, moving back to the Kansas City area to start Five Elms Capital. Five Elms, which makes investments of $1-10 million and works heavily with Midwestern businesses,…
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Nebraska Global funds infrastructure management company Beehive
Nebraska Global on Tuesday announced its latest investment: Beehive Industries, a company that makes infrastructure management software. The deal is the fourth announced in a span of 16 months by the Lincoln-based software investment fund, which was established in 2010 with the goal of launching 10 companies in five years. “Beehive is an excellent fit…
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CEO Graff shows off Hudl’s expanded digs in MTV Cribs-style video
Hudl’s crib may not feature a 450-square-foot bed adorned with the Superman logo (a la Shaquile O’Neal’s) or an on-site helicopter pad (like 50 Cent’s). But, rest assured, the Lincoln-based startup’s space has its fair share of creature comforts. Hudl, which makes web-based video and analysis tools for sports coaches, highlights some of those amenities…
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Company with KC ties raises $35M to ramp up e-recycling efforts
A Dallas-area company with a Kansas City co-founder and Kansas City funding just got big backing from a Silicon Valley venture capital firm for its solution to the problem of e-waste. The company, eRecycling …
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UMKC’s top innovation management ranking big for ‘entrepreneurial city’
The University of Missouri-Kansas City (UMKC) earlier this month announced it was ranked as the world’s No. 1 university in innovation management research by the Journal of Product Innovation Management, a leading academic journal devoted to the latest research, theory and practice in new product and service development. The rankings will be published in …