Funding Stories

CoMo Startup Weekend winner closes $750K seed round; EquipmentShare co-founder joins executive team

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. COLUMBIA,…

Snappy Workflow secures $105K prototype grant to pioneer life-saving energy tech from Midwest

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores innovative and uncommon ideas finding success in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. KEARNEY,…

How investments in Black businesses can help close KC’s racial wealth gap

Editor’s note: This story was originally published by The Kansas City Beacon, a member of the KC Media Collective, which also includes Startland News, KCUR 89.3, American Public Square, Kansas City PBS/Flatland, and Missouri Business Alert. Click here to read the original story. When Denisha Jones launched her business, Sweet Peaches Cobblers, in August 2020, it was just…

Saile closes $1.35M round; set to double team in 2023 as mass production of ‘robots for salespeople’ under way 

A Kansas City startup building an army of “Sailebots” — an artificial intelligence solution to a classic industry problem — impressed its new lead investor with its customized approach that avoids a “one size fits all” strategy.  “I’ve been in sales and marketing automation for 20 years,” said Lisa Calhoun, founder and managing partner at…

Come on (down) Now! AltCap Your Biz awards $37K in prizes with a familiar face earning biggest win of the night

The founder’s story can be the most important part of a startup’s pitch, Dr. Shelley Cooper shared after clinching the $25,000 grand prize at Thursday’s AltCap Your Biz: Pitch Competition. “Everybody else had a lot more financials in their pitch, and I took all that stuff out. I focused on telling my story the way…