Funding Stories
Grand prize: 10-year-old Leawood girl wins $260K for Storm Sleeper invention
When Julia Luetje’s parents surprised her at school with news that her Storm Sleeper invention won Frito-Lay’s $250,000 Dreamvention grand prize, the 10-year-old Leawood girl was excited, but told them she needed to get back to work. “Julia seemed to be stunned,” said her mother, Susan Bernstein. “She had the biggest smile I’ve ever seen on…
Truck hailing tech firm Bungii straps down $3M in oversubscribed round
Ben Jackson and his team were so determined to meet their fundraising goal they didn’t notice they crushed it. “One day, we looked up and realized that we were already substantially oversubscribed,” said Jackson, co-founder of Bungii. “We’re super excited and thankful for it. … Our team attacked that goal hard.” Bungii — which created…
Mycroft AI inks $1.75M in oversubscribed round, battling Amazon, Google
In a quiet room amid the chaos of the Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, Mycroft AI CEO Josh Montgomery gleefully told Startland News Friday that his tech firm raised a significant seed round. Mycroft recently raised a $1.75 million round that will help the Kansas City-based artificial intelligence startup accelerate hiring plans and corporate…
MTC renews 2018 support for LaunchKC grant contest
Despite the government program’s uncertain financial future, the Missouri Technology Corporation will inject $250,000 into the popular grants contest LaunchKC for 2018. After having its budget slashed from nearly $23 million in 2017 to $3.4 million in 2018, the MTC announced Friday that it will once again support the Kansas City-based grant contest, which has…
CasaiQ announces name change, high-profile investors in $1.5M round
Techstars Kansas City graduate CasaiQ is hoping a new funding round — and new name — will accelerate the development and deployment of its smart home tech. Led by former Brightergy exec Adam Blake, CasaiQ announced Friday that it raised a $1.5 million round, which includes a handful of local investors. The KCRise fund, Techstars…
