Kansas City A former Startup Weekend Kansas City team is looking to ease the process of buying and selling homes with Keyzio, a software platform that allows buyers and sellers to connect without the aid of a real estate agent or public listings. Founders Parker Hills, Dan Aycock and the Keyzio team took second place at Startup Weekend Kansas City last April. Keyzio is currently in public beta, and its founders are preparing for a more formal launch later this month after completing their time in Think Big Partners' first accelerator class, which began in September and ends this month with a demo day. The idea for Keyzio came to Hills after his experience trying to sell his own house. He and his wife knew they had a marketable home, but they were unable to sell it in a reasonable amount of time without the help of a real estate agent. … read more

Kansas City A dead cell phone battery: Something everyone tries to avoid. There’s even a known phobia associated with it – nomophobia. inCharge, a Kansas City-based startup founded by Bryan Richard, aims to remedy the problem of limited cell phone battery life by providing free mobile phone charging kiosks in public places. “The goal is that when you’re out in public we don’t want anyone to feel the pain of a dead cell phone battery,” Richard said. The idea came to Richard last October in his discussions and work with people in India, who wanted to know how Americans keep their phones charged. In India, Richard said, there are about 1.3 billion people, 1 billion cell phones and only 14 million … read more

Kansas City Think Big Partners today announced the six startups accepted into the first class of its Think Big Accelerator, a 22-week program that starts Tuesday in the company's coworking space, bizperc. Each startup receives investment, mentorship and business services, an offering Think Big Partners managing partner Herb Sih said is done through a "joint venture" of three entities. Think Big Ventures, a fund recently launched by Sih and Think … read more

Kansas City Think Big Partners will begin accepting applications Friday for the first class of its Think Big Accelerator, a 14-week program that aims, per a press release, to help tech-focused, early-stage startups and entrepreneurs launch their businesses "faster, stronger … read more