At 10 a.m. on Wednesday, August 27, the Groover Labs team will host a free Zoom webinar to walk through the Accelerating Concept to Commercialization in Kansas (ACCEL-KS) grant program.
New offices and workstations are open at Groover Labs! 8 offices, 12 workstations, 2 rooms, 2 call booths—ready for teams individual workers. Come tour!
We’re excited to share: the Groover Labs courtyard canopy is complete—a shaded workspace for when Kansas weather cooperates.
Groover Labs members Mark Janzen and Jacob Schlittenhardt just launched Planetary Talent, a startup born from their time at Groover Labs.
Our co-founder and executive director Curt Gridley joined the Shock Talk: Innovators podcast to talk about his experience starting AmberWave Systems in Boston in the late 90’s. The episode airs on December 15. Click here for a link or check it out where you listen to podcasts.
Startup technology company Knowledge as a Service Inc. (KaaS) has found its Wichita location in the Garvey Center downtown. The business has signed a five-year lease on office space in the building as part of an agreement with Bonavia Properties that included investment in the new company through two avenues. Read the full article in the Wichita Business Journal here. Read KaaS’ press release here.
Groover Labs member QuickHire’s media mentions have taken off! Their most recent announcement, that the startup raised $1.41 million—an oversubscribed round—also highlighted a remarkable fact: sisters Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall became the first Black women in Kansas to raise at least a million dollars in capita
The Wichita sisters who founded a dating app-style platform matching job seekers with employers have raised $1.41 million for their startup, QuickHire. Deborah Gladney, 34, and Angela Muhwezi-Hall, 31, became the first Black women in Kansas to raise at least a million dollars in capital, according to Project Diane, which tracks minority women-led startups. “Most of these funds, especially when they are making early-stage investments, they are making investments in the people,” Gladney said. QuickHire hit the million-dollar fundraising milestone in a seed round led by MATH Venture Partners.
Wichita startup QuickHire is poised for continued growth following a funding round that raked in $1.4 million for founders Deborah Gladney and Angela Muhwezi-Hall. It was the hiring technology company’s first institutional raise, with Gladney telling the WBJ that the company raised more than it expected.‘It was oversubscribed,” Gladney says. “Initially, it will go toward technology and continued expansion.” -Daniel McCoy, Reporter, Wichita Business Journal
QuickHire, a career discovery platform working with service workers to find job and advancement opportunities, announces an oversubscribed $1.41 million financing round, led by MATH Venture Partners.
The funding will go towards technology investments and team expansion of this female, African American-run company, led by co-founders Deborah Gladney (34) and Angela Muhwezi-Hall (31).
Groover Labs is excited to begin opening its Maker Labs facilities by offering a roster of classes, with plans to expand in the future to more classes, Maker Labs memberships, and open studio hours for class attendees. We recently held two 3D printing class sessions to begin our education outreach. Led by Executive Director Curt Gridley and Shop Lead Jeremiah Burian, we had students with different levels of experience and a variety of goals.
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.
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.
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.
