June 18, 2013 by Fred Bauters
Columbia In the middle of Missouri, paired with one of the top-rated journalism programs in the country, Newsy has quietly fostered big-league media relationships to share its multi-source video news service. Today, the Columbia, Mo.-based startup announced a long-term relationship with MSN News to collaboratively produce up to 20 videos per day for the network. … read more
June 18, 2013 by Frank Merchlewitz
Omaha The folks who brought you QuickCal, the top-selling iOS scheduling app, are back, and this time they're helping organize your workouts. Smelly Puppy's latest app, Zones, hit the App Store in February as a result of Omaha developer James Boutcher's frustrating experiences at the gym. While he was on a metabolic heart rate workout plan, Boutcher ... read more
June 18, 2013 by Megan Bannister
Spencer Morningside College junior Blake Anderson thinks of most of his great ideas in the shower. After scribbling his inspiration down on spare slips of paper, he takes the idea to his partner and sounding board Sean Richardson, a recent Morningside graduate. This time, the idea that struck him and went on to impress the Startup Weekend Spencer judges this past weekend was PushLoyalty, a mobile app that allows businesses to reward customer loyalty. "My original idea was a push notification … read more
June 18, 2013 by Fred Bauters
Kansas City Fresh off its inclusion in the Points of Light Civic Accelerator, Kansas City-based crowdfunding startup Neighbor.ly has received a $175,000 grant from the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation to scale its operations. “With its expansion more people will be able to get involved in decision-making in their communities, while governments and change makers can connect with ready-made projects that resonate ... read more
June 17, 2013 by Fred Bauters
Lenexa Less than two years ago, George Hansen helped put the Kansas City region on the tech map when Google acquired Zave Networks—where he was president and CEO—for an undisclosed sum. Now he's hoping to do the same for a host of other high-growth companies. The Enterprise Center of Johnson County (ECJC), a nonprofit venture development organization, today announced Hansen's appointment as president and CEO. He'll step in for Joel Wiggins, who accepted the role of president at his alma mater, Crown College in Minnesota. "(Hansen) has a proven track record and a deep understanding of how businesses are started, financed, built and accelerated," said Jim Dodd, chairman of the ECJC. … read more
June 17, 2013 by Megan Bannister
Des Moines Slater, Iowa native and Iowa State University alum Steve Lee recently spoke with The Des Moines Register about his decision three years ago to join the Google Glass team. "It seemed a bit crazy at the time," Lee, the director of Google Glass, told The Des Moines Register. "But I saw a vision that this could be compelling. I could see how it could become a whole new way for people to interact if we could achieve some technical feats." In 2012 Lee was named one of Fast Company's "100 most creative people in business," now he's starting to redirect his attentions to the day Google Glass is available in stores. As of now … read more
June 17, 2013 by Fred Bauters
Lenexa Would you want to use four remotes to control a home theater system? Of course not. So you may be enticed by what consumer electronics startup Flyover Innovations has going for their Indiegogo campaign. The Lenexa, Kan., startup's first product, Blumoo, is an open-source software and hardware platform capable of morphing any iOS or Android mobile device … read more
June 16, 2013 by Megan Bannister
Spencer The first Startup Weekend Spencer is off and running with three teams working to create viable companies in just one weekend. On Friday evening the 16 people registered for northwest Iowa's first Startup Weekend gathered at StartupCity Spencer, pitched ideas and formed teams to work to create projects throughout the weekend. With a population of less than 12,000, organizer Sara Magnussen believes that the city will be the smallest ever to host a Startup Weekend. … read more
Through August 22, help us decide the winners of our inaugural Silicon Prairie Awards, which will recognize 12
companies and individuals. You can vote once per day per category.
Winners will be announced live on stage at
our August 30 event.