Wichita and Kansas
Today, August 28th, the Pipeline Entrepreneurial Fellowship is opening its application for 2020 fellows. Pipeline is the premier networking, mentoring, and entrepreneurial encouragement program in the Midwest. It has effectively helped build a network throughout Kansas, Missouri, and Nebraska. In so doing, Pipeline has helped, inspired, networked, and shaped individual entrepreneurs that have collectively created…
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In talking to Jessica Straus, Dundee Venture Capital’s new Venture Partner, it occurred to me that we should write an update on first fundings in what Straus called the “mighty middle”. This paper describes first fundings. First fundings are a recordation of companies that raise capital for the first time. This paper uses Pitchbook data…
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1 Million Cups was developed in Kansas City, MO in 2012 by Co-Founders Cameron Cushman and Nate Olson who were working at the time on the Entrepreneurship Team at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. What began as an experiment to bring entrepreneurs in one city together over a cup of coffee towards a goal of…
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Wichita-based BuddyBrands started by building better beds to help canines get their sleep. The company has expanded its offerings to include so much more. The BuddyRest story begins seven years ago when company Co-founder, Trevor Crotts’ labradoodle, Buddy, visited the vet. Crotts happened to be a corporate trainer in the mattress industry at the time,…
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Video gaming has always been a fiercely competitive pastime. Those who are old enough surely remember hunkering down into a game after school and bickering with their siblings over the Atari joystick for a crack at Pitfall! or Frogger. (For those who are too young to have relished in the joy of the successful virtual…
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Alyss is innovating in hiring. When Alyss competed for and won the $120K grand prize at the Inside/Outside Innovation Summit in Lincoln, Nebraska last year, company Founder and CEO Mike Mathia was determined to realize his vision of helping job applicants stand out and demonstrate their qualifications beyond a simple resume. Less than one year…
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Clint Brauer grew up farming with his dad in Kansas. He did not enjoy farming at all and after graduating from K-State, made his way to Los Angeles to work. After spending 13 years in tech, Clint set out to bring the Wichita area an organic alternative, with the thought that his tech background might…
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Maggie Schoonover calls herself “an introverted science nerd.” We call her an inspiring Silicon Prairie Founder, and we’re pleased she chose to share her co-founding story with SPN and our readers. Here’s what she had to say…. My educational background is heavily focused in the sciences – I earned a B.S. in Meteorology from…
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Sometimes the grass is greener, and other times, it’s overgrown. Wichita-based Lawn Buddy can help with the latter. Steven Werner grew up on a small ranch in Wyoming, enlisted in the Marine Corp as a junior in high school, toured in Afghanistan, and found his way back to Wyoming in 2013. Throughout his military career,…
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Wichita-based Nitride Solutions is a manufacturer of materials used in electronics. Sounds simple, but it’s much more complex. Founder Jeremy Jones explained that Nitride Solutions essentially grows crystals, in specially designed reactors at very high temperatures (4000 °F) to produce a material called aluminum nitride. The resulting material is used for applications in electronics, refrigeration,…
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