Funding Stories
University students score opportunities via Pipeline IOTY
Four college student founders are hoping to capitalize on facetime with high-profile businesspeople as part of an inaugural university competition at Pipeline’s Innovator of the Year event. Students from four regional universities will present their startups at the annual Kansas City-hosted IOTY event, which features a pitch competition among 10 Pipeline fellows, an evening gala…
Blooom wins Kauffman Foundation pitch bout, $10K
Can anything stop Blooom? Continuing its streak of wins and successes, the financial tech firm on Wednesday morning won a national pitch contest at the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation. Leawood-based Blooom beat out four other finalists in the inaugural One in a Million pitch contest, which initially drew more than 350 applicants. Blooom survived several…
5 takeaways from Midwest tech investment report
Lead Bank and investment research firm CB Insights recently analyzed the Midwest tech investing scene and distilled their findings into a report. The nearly 40-page report looks at investment trends, performance, major players and more. Here are five takeaways from the report. 1) The Midwest accounted for a small piece of the national tech investment…
Sizzling startup Video Fizz to represent KC in national Techweek competition
After a sizzling summer, Video Fizz is continuing its hot streak with a growing investment round and a chance to win more funding at a national pitch contest. Founded by Laura Steward, Video Fizz in September won a $50,000 grant as part of the LaunchKC pitch competition. Video Fizz, an app that enables collaboration to…
Blooom co-founder dissects $4M raise
Financial tech firm Blooom recently snagged one of the Kansas City area’s largest funding rounds in months. QED Investors from Alexandria, Va., led Blooom’s $4 million Series A round, which also included investments from DST Systems Inc., Commerce Ventures, Hyde Park Venture Partners and UMB. The Leawood-based firm plans to use the funds to hire new sales…
