Resonus earns MTC investment, vote of confidence as startup accelerates its go-to-market plans

A Kansas City govtech startup is among eight Missouri innovators selected to receive a share of $6.1 million in equity-based investments from MTC’s state-sponsored venture capital program, the agency announced Tuesday.

Resonus — a platform connecting citizens and local governments via text or web chat — was tapped for a TechLaunch investment from the IDEA Fund program through the Missouri Technology Corporation. While financial details of the investment were not released, TechLaunch recipients are eligible to receive as much as $100,000 capital injections.

Mitch and Julie Mabrey, co-founders of Resonus; courtesy photo

The just-announced funding marks the start of a pre-seed round for Kansas City-built Resonus, which previously was bootstrapped with limited non-dilutive funding from startup competition wins, said Mitch Mabrey, co-founder of the company with Julie Mabrey.

“The MTC investment accelerates our go-to-market, allowing us to onboard additional municipal customers, expand our local engineering and customer success team, and strengthen integrations with the legacy systems cities and counties already rely on,” he explained. 

“It’s a meaningful vote of confidence to both customers and investors that helps Resonus scale a Missouri-built solution to communities across the state and beyond,” added Mabrey.

Resonus was named one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2026. It allows users to talk with their local government to share ideas, weigh in on others’ ideas, learn how local government works, and see results via personalize text message or web chat conversations. It also helps local officials confidently make data-informed decisions.

The technology is now live in Myrtle Beach, Florida, with the co-founders looking forward to seeing the results of a local comprehensive plan survey.

MTC’s IDEA Fund uses public funding (both state and federal) to drive private capital investment into technology-based businesses within Missouri, promoting their growth and economic development in the state.

The fund offers three programs designed for pre-seed, seed and Series A stage venture capital funding rounds. Each awarded company has six months to complete MTC’s due diligence process and raise their projected funding round including securing a matching co-investment of private capital for MTC’s investment award.

Click here to learn more about the other Missouri companies selected for the April IDEA Fund investment cycle.

MTC accepts IDEA Fund applications continuously and reviews applications on a quarterly cycle to determine award allocation. 

The next deadline to apply is Aug. 4.

Beginning with the October award cycle, MTC will increase the maximum investment amounts across all IDEA Fund programs to better align with evolving market dynamics and the growing capital needs of early-stage, high-growth companies:

• TechLaunch Program: Increasing from $100,000 to $250,000
  (for companies raising rounds of between $400,000 and $1 million) 
• Seed Capital Program: Increasing from $500,000 to $1 million
  (for companies raising rounds of between $1 million and $5 million) 
• Venture Capital Program: Increasing from $2 million to $4 million
  (for companies raising rounds of between $5 million and $20 million) 

Since January 2023, MTC has made over $42 million in investment awards to 120 technology-focused startups with high-growth potential in Missouri.