Funding Stories
Mycroft raises $335K for artificial intelligence platform
Weeks after becoming a finalist in the LaunchKC grants competition, Lawrence-based startup Mycroft is riding a hot streak with the closing of its angel investment round. Mycroft — which developed an open-source, artificial intelligence device similar to Amazon Echo — recently raised $335,000 from Kansas City’s Northland Angel Investor Network and Star Power Partners. An affiliate…
Kauffman Foundation, Uber launch grant contest for women-led startups
Female entrepreneurs in Kansas City may not have the luxury of riding a “glass escalator,” but on Oct. 26 they can take an Uber ride for a chance at $120,000. The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation on Tuesday announced UberPITCH, a nationwide pitch competition in partnership with Uber and business accelerator The Refinery. Women-led startups will…
EyeVerify sells to Alibaba affiliate for more than $100M
In what represents one of the metro’s most notable exits in the last decade, Kansas City-based startup EyeVerify announced Tuesday that it has been acquired. Ant Financial — the payments affiliate of Alibaba Group Holding — purchased EyeVerify for more than $100 million, according to an unnamed local source familiar with the deal. Ant Financial…
Kauffman Foundation offers $25K via ‘1 in a Million’ contest
Think your business is one in a million? The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is offering 1 Million Cups presenters from the last year a chance to snag some cash — and this year they’ve bumped up the prize to $25,000. In its second year, the 1 in a Million competition is open to any firm…
KC startups nab first, second place in national contest
Two Kansas City startups recently reigned supreme in UPS’s inagural Midwest X-Port Challenge. Mobility Designed, a medical device company from Prairie Village, Kan. that is also a 2016 LaunchKC grant finalist, won first place. The startup has garnered international attention thanks a viral video featuring their futuristic crutches. Mobility Designed CEO Liliana Younger said that…
