27 Entrepreneurs To Watch In Kansas City

Editor's note: Are you a developer that loves building things? There's $22500 up for grabs at this year's Hack Midwest, along with a $10000 grand prize from H&R Block! Join us at Kansas City's largest app building challenge with 300+ developers on September 23-24. Show off your skills, win prizes and make new friends!

In the lead up to Hack Midwest (KC's largest app building challenge September 23-24th with $22500 up for grabs and 300+ software engineers), we're taking time to recognize just a few of the many innovative entrepreneurs in Kansas City.

Whether it's tech, design or venture capital...here are some entrepreneurs in KC you should be inspired by.

Riddhiman Das

Das is currently CEO & Co-Founder at TripleBlind. TripleBlind offers privacy as a service, enabled with a simple API to enable companies & individuals to safely provide and consume sensitive data and algorithms in encrypted space, without compromising privacy or security. Enabled by proprietary groundbreaking inventions, TripleBlind is building a marketplace that will allow entities to freely collaborate around their most sensitive data and algorithms without compromising their privacy, by ensuring that data and algorithms only interact in encrypted space. This allows entities to work together to create compounded value in a way never before possible.

Connect with Das on Linkedin

Diana Kander

Diana Kander is a keynote speaker on curiosity and innovation and a New York Times bestselling author.

A serial entrepreneur who entered the United States as a refugee at the age of eight, she has launched and sold millions of dollars of products and services. Also, Diana can juggle. And do a handstand. Though not at the same time.

Connect with Diana on Linkedin

Ramsey Mohsen

Over the years, Mohsen, a University of Kansas graduate, founded entertainment blog Across the Board, has been featured in Mashable and TechCrunch and spoken at events across the country.

Being one of the most connected individuals in Kansas City, it makes sense that Mohsen serves as CEO of Everhance, a social news and "edutainment" company on the cutting edge of digital marketing.

Follow Ramsey on Twitter: @rm

Davyeon Ross

Davyeon Ross is the co-founder of ShotTracker — the first piece of affordable, wearable technology for basketball players who want to improve shooting performance by automating the tracking of shot attempts, makes and misses.

Prior to founding ShotTracker, he founded Digital Sports Ventures and had a successful exit in October 2011.

Follow Davyeon on Twitter: @davyeonross

Celina Tio

As an award winning chef, Celina has been a top competitor on shows like Food Network’s “The Next Iron Chef” and Bravo’s “Top Chef Masters.”

She's the founder of ANNX Spirits, which blends age old distilling techniques with new world sophistication. She's also the owner of The Belfry, a great neighborhood mainstay in The Crossroads.

As a chef, she's won both local and national accolades, including 2005 Chef Of The Year by Chef magazine and the James Beard Foundation’s 2007 Best Chef: Midwest.

Follow Celina on Twitter: @celinatio

Gary Fish

Gary Fish is a serial entrepreneur and investor with many business interests. Mr. Fish is the founder of Fishtech Group, a company he founded in 2015. In 2021, the Fishtech merged with Herjavec Group to create Cyderes.

Since 1996, he has founded, acquired, and sold more than a dozen technology companies. Throughout his career, he has been recognized many times for his achievements; he was named a technology entrepreneur of the year by Ernst and Young, a Security Super Star by CRN magazine, a Kansas City Top 100 Business Leader, a Distinguished Alumni by DeVry University, and was inducted into the Kansas City Business Hall of Fame.

Follow Gary on Twitter: @gary_fish

Dr Brandy Archie

Dr. Brandy Archie is the founder of AskSAMIE, a web app that helps caregivers keep their loved ones safe in a familiar environment. The platform matches patients with the right adaptive equipment specific to their physical and environmental needs.

AskSAMIE began as AccessAble Living, a service-based company in the Kansas City area. Dr. Brandy Archie, our founder, wanted to assist the families she encountered while working as an occupational therapist.

Dr. Brandy discovered, throughout her work, that there was a significant need to assist those who were temporarily or permanently incapacitated or disabled. She wanted to make sure families got the help they needed to modify a home affordably and as quickly as possible.

Connect with Dr Archie on Linkedin

Blake Miller

Blake Miller is the founder ofHomebase.ai, a resident experience and connected building solution. Blake is also the host of The Future of Living Podcast.

Prior to Homebase Blake was a Partner at Think Big, a startup incubator in Kansas City, MO.

In 2012, Blake led the Kansas City Smart City Initiative, a public private partnership led by Cisco, deploying smart city technologies in Downtown Kansas City, MO, creating one of the worlds largest smart cities and winning a 2017 Edison Award for innovation.

Follow Blake on Twitter: @imbmills

Katie Boody Adorno

Katie is the founder of The Lean Lab, working in public education in KCMO since 2008.

Katie is interested in exploring the unique intersections of urban education, creativity, community building, entrepreneurship, and the hospitality of Kansas City BBQ

Seemingly always involved in the "startup" phase of organizations, she was a charter corps member of Teach For America Kansas City, a founding member of C.A. Franklin's middle school team in Kansas City Public Schools, and a founding teacher at Alta Vista Charter Middle School School.

Connect with Katie on Linkedin

Toby Rush

Toby Rush is the founder of Redeem, which simplifies and accelerates the path to digital ownership and experiences by linking a phone, wallets, and the digital world. Leveraging existing infrastructures and user behaviors opens the world of Web3 to everyone without having to educate anyone.

Previously, Toby founded 2 other startups EyeVerify and Rush Tracking Systems with successful exits.

Follow Toby on Twitter: @tobiasrush

CaRessa Hutchinson

CaRessa Hutchinson is the founder of ModRN Health, a virtual primary care solution with a web-based platform.

It gives subscribers access to a team of dedicated, specialized nurses, and resource partners to become the supplemental nursing provider for the National Emergency Tele-Critical Care Network.

Connect with CaRessa on Linkedin

Thad Langford

After establishing his business chops in both Fortune 500 and early-stage environments, Thad is one of the founding partners at Flyover Capital.

Before Flyover, Thad was President and CEO of Zave Networks (acquired by Google), a venture-backed digital advertising tech company.

Follow Thad on Twitter: @thadlangford

Tad Carpenter

Tad Carpenter is a designer, author, and NYT Bestselling Illustrator based in Kansas City, Missouri.

His work has appeared in numerous publications and he has written/illustrated over a dozen children’s books in the market today.

Tad and his wife Jessica (also a designer) run Carpenter Collective’s overall approach to branding, strategy, and design have gained wonderful clients ranging from Target, Macy’s, Coca-Cola, Rayban, Nick Jr, MTV and Adobe.

Follow Tad on Twitter: @TadCarpenter

Darcy Howe

Darcy Howe founded KCRise Fund in 2016 to fill a gap in strategic capital for local startups.

KCRise Fund fits within a broader long-term vision for the greater Kansas City region, which seeks to foster entrepreneurship, bring existing businesses to scale, and fully realize the Kansas City region’s potential.

KCRise Fund is a traditional venture capital fund which invests side-by-side with other institutional investors in early stage companies based in Kansas and western half of Missouri.

Investors in KCRise Fund include corporations, university endowments, family offices, and prominent business leaders in the region. The firm currently has over $100 million in assets under management.

Follow Darcy on Twitter: @darcyhowe

Jonathan Ruiz

Jonathan Ruiz is a serial entrepreneur, self-taught programmer, patented inventor, and life-long learner from Kansas City, Missouri. He is passionate about combining software and hardware based technology to connect the digital and physical world, which translates into the work EB Systems is doing as an innovation leader in the Internet of Things industry.

Along with advancing the loT industry, he hopes to inspire other Hispanic/Latino people to enter the technology field and help Kansas City solidify itself as a tech and innovation hub.

Connect with Jonathan on Linkedin

Laura Steward

Intent on finding ways to use today’s technology to make people happy and bring family and friends closer together she createdVideoFizz, a mobile app that makes creating group video celebrations for any occasion possible.

Laura has a history of building high functioning teams in multiple successful startups. Prior to starting VideoFizz, Laura was the commercial leader for two GE businesses, a genomic sequencing company and an oncology clinical trials business (acquired companies).

Connect with Laura on Linkedin

Learie Hercules

Learie is the CEO of Heft IQ, a leader in the ecommerce and supply chain space providing brands with an advanced AI-driven analytics platform that allows them to scale efficiently.

As a C-level executive with more than 20 years of leadership experience, he has guided organizations through technology disruptions, acquisition due-diligence, digital transformation, cyber security and corporate partnership activities.

In addition, he has held leadership positions in multiple industries spanning supply chain/logistics, ecommerce, education, smart cities, big data and telecom industries.

Connect with Learie on Linkedin

E. Spencer Schubert

Spencer is the founder of E.S. Schubert Sculpture Studios, a premiere bronze sculpture studio in the Midwest.

One of the preeminenet artists in Kansas City, Schubert is responsible for not just sharing his own beautiful artwork with the masses, but sculuptors around the world, too.

Schubert is known for his famous bronze sculptures throughout the region, including Kansas State football coach Bill Snyder's statue and civil right's icon Dred Scott's bust in the Missouri Capitol Building.

• 4kweeks.com, featured by Peter Attia and Oprah on Oprah Daily
• PortofCuriosity.com, A curation of limited edition collectables, launching in late 2023
• Madison Supply, sold to private equity firm Perch in 2022




Follow Spencer on Twitter: @es_schubert





Dr. Saroj Gupta



Dr. Saroj Gupta the founder and CEO of MyDigiRecords, which gives people control of organizing and managing their important health information, including immunizations and medications.

Dr. Gupta is a Harvard graduate with over 20 years of private practice and academic experience as an administrator and researcher. She is also an international speaker and a very seasoned entrepreneur who has run multiple startups successfully. She was a professor at the University of Missouri in Kansas City, Harvard, and University of Maryland.

Dr. Gupta has an EMBA from Rockhurst College. Currently she is on boards of several non-profit organizations and advisors at multiple technology companies.

Connect with Dr Gupta on Linkedin




Lesa Mitchell



Lesa Mitchell is a Managing Director, at High Alpha Innovation, supporting it's growing portfolio of founders to reach scale. Lesa has been an entrepreneur, corp executive and early stage investor for over twenty years.

She was a General Manager and MD for Techstars NA, former executive at the Kauffman Foundation (3B assets) and former executive in the pharmaceutical industry. Her passion is creating opportunities for our founders and being bold in execution. Lesa a graduate of the University of Kansas and is based in Kansas City.

Follow Lesa on Twitter: @lesamitchell





Scott Ford



Scott Ford is the President & co-CEO of Hawaiian Bros, a fast growing chain that currently operates 39 restaurants in seven states across America .

With more than 30 years of restaurant experience, Scott has held leadership positions at national brands and leading chains like Applebee's and Goodcents Deli Fresh Subs.

His priorities as a President and Co-CEO of Hawaiian Bros are implementing best-in-class operational processes while building a strong Hawaiian Bros 'ohana.

Connect with Scott on Linkedin





Sarah Hill



Sarah Hill is the CEO of Healium, the world’s first biometrically-powered VR/AR immersive media channel controlled by the user’s brainwaves and heart rate via consumer wearables like fitness trackers. She tells stories with bio-data.

Hill developed Healium for herself as well as the 41 million others who struggle with anxiety and insomnia. Hill holds several patents for biometrically-controlled media. Her XR experiences are clinically validated in 7 peer-reviewed journals and have been viewed more than 7 million times.

Connect with Sarah on Linkedin




Jason Grill



Jason is the Founder of JGrill Media where he focuses and consults on media relations and outreach, public relations and strategies, communications, marketing strategies, public/civic affairs and government relations. He also works as a local, state and national contributor, commentator and analyst.

He also co-founded The Sock 101, an ecommerce business, Sock of the Month Club, wholesale/retail offering, custom logo and branded sock company. Sock 101 was featured on Project Runway: Fashion Startup on Bravo in 2016. Sock 101 did over $5M in revenue from 2015-2017 and continued to grow financially each year. The company did over $2M in revenue per year through his successful exit in 2018.

Jason also hosts the popular Grill Nation Show.

Connect with Jason on Linkedin




Brandy Burch



Brandy Burch is the founder of Benefitbay, an end-to-end ICHRA administration platform for brokers and their clients. A full-service technology suite for simplified employee benefits.

With a background in operations and finance, Brandy discovered a unique opportunity in the healthcare industry.

Connect with Brandy on Linkedin



Heather Spalding



Heather is a founder and the CEO at Cambrian, an augmented reality startup that allows you to visualize your space with new paint and flooring using nothing more than the touch of your fingertips. She is a 2019 Pipeline Fellow, ScaleUp KC graduate, Atlanta Startup Battle Finalist and grand prize winner of LaunchKC.

Her interest in engineering, neurobiology and artistry is seen in Cambrian, her passion for paleontology lending the name.

Connect with Heather on Linkedin




Jake Bjorseth



Jake presented his business plan for a Gen Z agency to his University's accelerator program and was denied. 3 years later they asked him to speak.

Jake is the 22-year-old founder of Trndsttrs, a Gen Z agency helping brands understand and reach, you guessed it, Gen Z.

In the past year alone they've worked with dozens of startup brands targeting Gen Z, challenger brands, and Fortune 500 brands like McDonald's, North Face, UnitedHealthCare, and L'Oreal.

Connect with Jake on Linkedin




David Biga



David is the founder of Particle Space, a cloud-based platform for connecting building, property, and tenant management.

With over 15 years of professional software engineering experience. David has helped many build solutions while playing key-advisement roles in tech startups that have both flopped and successfully exited. David loves code, but also loves building solutions that help change the world for good. He hopes to take his experience and give back to the community to help the one coming next.

Connect with David on Linkedin







About Hack Midwest




Are you a developer that loves building things?

What if you had the opportunity to show your skills?

There's $22500 up for grabs at this year's Hack Midwest

Join us along w/ 300+ passionate software developers to build amazing things in 24 hours & win thousands in prizes and cash!

Hack Midwest is a great opportunity to:

• get inspired by building new things
• get community recognition
• win awesome prizes and cash
• make new friends!

What will you build? Join us at Hack Midwest!