Funding Stories
Hyped from high school: Blue Valley teens among startup cash winners at K-State challenge
Four Overland Park high school students have landed cash infusions totaling more than $7,000 for their ongoing startup ventures. Local winners of the Kansas Entrepreneurship Challenge — supported by Network KS, sponsored by the Kansas Masonic Foundation, and hosted by Kansas State University — included: Drone Estate founders Austin Jones and Hunter Vasquez, Blue Valley West…
After $1.25M seed round, Sprint alumni credit KC roots for Rogue Games’ agility, hungry hustle
At just over 2 years old, a formerly indie mobile game publisher is rocketing to the top of its industry, with one of its founders attributing LA-based Rogue Games’ success to its origins in KC. “We take pride that our Kansas City roots have given us an edge in the industry, to be honest with…
Most-funded tech startups: $100M-plus investment puts PayIt on the map with C2FO
Companies in the Midwest and South are making major plays for investment dollars, according to CB Insights, with Kansas City’s PayIt and C2FO earning spots on the latest map of the nation’s most well-funded tech startups. “The tech boom has diffused beyond the traditional hotbeds of California, New York, and Massachusetts, across the entire United…
BacklotCars parks another $25 million in Series B round led by NY-based investor
KC-fueled BacklotCars will further its mission to disrupt the wholesale automotive space, thanks to the close of a $25 million Series B funding round, the company announced Monday. Led by New York-based growth equity firm, Stripes, the round brings BacklotCars — which seeks to ease pain points for automotive wholesalers — to $38 million in…
New industry-specific LaunchKC accelerators expected to bring more dollars, winners
Applications for this year’s LaunchKC program are going vertical, said Drew Solomon, announcing plans for three industry-specific accelerators — two of which will launch new funding-rich demo days in the fall. “We’ve always wanted to grow and expand not only the competition, but the program as a whole,” said Solomon, chair of the LaunchKC program….
