Gather the latest news about Groover Labs, Wichita Coworking, Startups, and Founders on our blog.
PLOT Construction Communications Press Release
Congrats to Groover Labs member Chris Callen on his new venture, PLOT Construction Communications, a startup set to change how the construction industry communicates. Callen, co-founder and CEO, announced pre-seed funding from Koch Industries and Seeking Alpha.
IdeaTek in the news
One of our members, IdeaTek, was in the news recently. On Monday, October 25, the Wichita Eagle, in partnership with the Kansas Reflector, published an article about how CARES Act relief money to the tune of $50 million has gone into expanding broadband internet access in rural communities across Kansas. Photo Courtesy of the Kansas Reflector.
PLOT Communications in the News
Chris Callen has a new startup company called PLOT, which aims to help construction teams communicate more efficiently. He has partnered with the Indianapolis-based venture studio High Alpha Innovation.
An Interview with the KaaS Team
Knowledge as a Service, Inc., or “KaaS”, operates Ringorang®, an app-based software solution designed to disrupt corporate learning. Companies that subscribe to Ringorang will use the technology to ensure employees retain and apply critical information from each learning session. The KaaS team brings high energy to Groover Labs. They walk fast and talk faster.
Interview with Chad Cox, Co-Founder of Optical Launch
Chad Cox is the co-founder of Optical Launch, a turnkey e-commerce application built to boost the optical experience of patients, customers, and optical staff. Born and raised in Wichita, Kan., Cox is a veteran who served in the U.S. Army’s 3rd Ranger Battalion stationed in Ft. Benning, Ga. He has a degree in computer science from Wichita State University and, in his free time, is a pretty good chef. Read our interview with him here.
QuickHire Appears in Washington Post (Again!)
Groover Labs members Deborah Gladney and Angela Angela Muhwezi-Hall, along with their tech startup QuickHire, were mentioned in the Washington Post for the second time in less than two months. Click the link for the article.
KAAS begins crowdfunding to drive local hiring
Check out Groover Labs member and tech startup Knowledge as a Service, or KaaS, in a recent edition of the Wichita Business Journal by clicking on the link below. They have initiated an equity crowdfunding campaign on WeFunder.com to help hire 40 people in Wichita over the next year as they move operations to town.
QuickHire featured in Washington Post
Read a Washington Post article published on July 27 about changes in the workforce, and specifically, the service industry workforce. The article features Groover Labs members Deborah Gladney and Angela Angela Muhwezi-Hall and their tech startup QuickHire, a mobile job search platform directed at the service industry. Visit their website here. Read other stories about QuickHire here and here.
Member Profile: Greg Giefer of DARI Motion
DARI Motion uses a constellation of high-speed, high-definition cameras instead of markers, hence “markerless”, to record their subjects' movements. The data feeds into proprietary software in real-time, which compares their moves against a vast trove of human movement data. The software generates a report that shows how the subject’s movement compares against the field. One DARI Motion capture system can easily collect up to 75 subjects in an 8-hour day, which makes the process scalable. It used to take six months to collect biomechanical data like this; DARI does it in minutes.
Kansas Micro-Internship Program
Groover Labs is excited to share the Kansas Micro-Internship Program with you. Through this program, Kansas-based companies and organizations can receive grant funding for Micro-Internship opportunities as long as the selected student is enrolled in a Kansas public college or university. Micro-Internships are short-term, paid, professional assignments that take place in all areas of an organization. These projects can be completed remotely on a year-round basis and typically range from 5 to 40 hours of work. Projects are typically due within a month of kick-off and provide your busy team with immediate support on short-term tasks.
QuickHire in the news (again)!
The QuickHire team has secured new funding and hired a new chief technology officer. Read more about these exciting developments in the Wichita Business Journal.
Member News: Kansas Global VP Named as Next Gen Global Leader
Congratulations to Kansas Global Trade Services Vice President Tyler Walston, who was named as a Next Gen Global Leader. The Next Gen Global Leaders network is a program of the U.S. Leadership Coalition, an organization whose mission is to strengthen America’s civilian-led tools—development and diplomacy, alongside defense.
Member News: QuickHire
Read journalist Stan Finger’s article about entrepreneurship in Wichita during an economic crisis and global pandemic. Local entrepreneurs and businesses include QuickHire, Christina Long of the Create Campaign, NetWork Kansas, Ad Astra Medical Devices, NXTUS, Josh Oeding, Project Content, and Greatness Vodka. These entrepreneurs and advisors answer the question: Is a pandemic a good time to start a business?
24/7 Access Options
We understand the odd hours Wichita entrepreneurs and startup founders must work. We’ve been there. It may have been with our own projects, or it may have been with the spin up of Groover Labs itself. Ideas strike at the most inconvenient times. Enter coworking 24/7 at Groover Labs.
Members in the News: FlagshipKansas.Tech
FlagshipKansas.Tech joins Groover Labs. It makes sense, since its founders share the organization’s passion for technology, Wichita and Kansas. Groover Labs is a non-profit whose mission is to foster growth in the startup community by providing a location where entrepreneurs can share ideas.
Welcome New Members: QuickHire
Sisters Angela and Deborah founded QuickHire earlier this year during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic. QuickHire is an app that applies swipe-based features to connect job seekers with available jobs in industries like delivery, grocers, and manufacturers.
Member News: QuickHire
Wichita sisters Deborah Gladney, and Angela Muhwezi-Hall, co-created the app QuickHire, a job search platform for people in manufacturing, service, retail or other similar fields outside of white-collar employment. The coronavirus pandemic pushed them to launch the app in early September.
Welcome New Members: Kansas Global Trade Services
Kansas Global Trade Services joined Wichita coworking space Groover Labs in September. Rethinking their traditional office environment gave them increased flexibility, and moving to Groover Labs was a natural fit.
Member News: Kansas Global Trade Services
Groover Labs coworking community member Kansas Global Trade Services is working with local startup companies in a pilot program to increase exports and diversify the Wichita-area economy. The program is called the Wichita Export Accelerator Program and could help mitigate future economic downturns.
Member News: FlagshipKansas.Tech
Ashley Scheideman has begun duties as executive director at FlagshipKansas.Tech, the Wichita nonprofit supporting technology companies through innovation and awareness.