Funding Stories

Arash Ferdowsi, co-founder of Dropbox

Return on investment: Why the co-founder of tech giant Dropbox just donated $500K to Blue Valley schools

Blue Valley schools, teachers, and students are expected to benefit greatly from a newly announced fund launched by the homegrown Johnson County tech entrepreneur who later co-founded the cloud storage giant Dropbox. Arash Ferdowsi, a 2004 graduate of Blue Valley Northwest High School, has put up $500,000 to launch the Arash Ferdowsi Fund, which benefits…

Graham Krizek, Voltage

Voltage charges ahead with $6M seed round in quest to ‘fast-track a Bitcoin standard’

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. WICHITA…

Charon Thompson and Dan Smith, The Porter House KC

Porter House KC’s new ‘Alchemy Sandbox’ grants 20 main street businesses with up to $5K each

A newly launched program by The Porter House KC is aimed at providing small business owners with as much as $5,000 for their back office, equipment cost, rental assistance or general system needs, detailed Dan Smith.  “We’re really excited about this Alchemy Sandbox program. ‘Alchemy’ is a word that just kept coming up at the…

Michael Odupitan, Omni Circle Group, speaking at a grant announcement event at Omni Circle's in-the-works collaborative workspace

Kauffman awards Omni Circle $360K grant to help build minority small business hub

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. Editor’s…

Johnny Wolff, HomeRoom

HomeRoom closes $1M pre-seed, joining Y Combinator’s latest batch of funded startups 

A Kansas City proptech startup that matches roommates with affordable coliving opportunities is reporting record growth, along with a newly announced million-dollar pre-seed funding round led by a leading early stage investor. The investment from Y Combinator, The Uplift Syndicate and The HO0 Fund is expected to help HomeRoom — a residential real estate marketplace that…