Little Startup on the Silicon Prairie: A Quick Guide to KC’s Entrepreneurial Community
Kansas City is touting more than just its barbecue these days. Within the last five years or so—thanks in-part to Google Fiber choosing it as the first town for its ultra-fast Fiber Internet connection—KC has seen a sizeable uptick in startups, tech ventures and more.
But it’s not just the bandwidth that is attracting big talent and bigger ideas to Kansas City. It’s also the friendly business environment. Entrepreneurs even report being able to go to competitors for advice on specific problems. Now that’s Midwest hospitality. Not to mention a good ol’ fashioned work ethic.
Looking for more information, or a little startup exposure of your own? Here are a few places to start.
The Kansas City Startup Village
This entrepreneur-led community helps grow and support KC startups through programming, recruitments and knowledge sharing.
Startup Genome
This cool interactive map tracks area startups, investors, incubators, events and more, all happening within the area. Check it out and get inspired.
UP Kansas City
Host to at least two Startup Weekends per year, UP Kansas City is another great place to find events, get involved and even get support for your venture—fully driven by local volunteer efforts.
TEDxKC
Kansas City hosts a series of independently organized TED events. And judging by how often the events sell out (always) it’s safe to assume that “Ideas worth Spreading” are pretty easy to come by in KC.