Funding Stories

Billionaire entrepreneur and investor Mark Cuban

Celebrity investors, KCRise Fund back $9M strategic seed for Overland Park NFT startup

Banking a $9 million round — including the backing of billionaire Mark Cuban, LinkedIn founder Reid Hoffman, the co-founders of Rotten Tomatoes and regional venture capital firm KCRise Fund — CryptoSlam announced Wednesday a new wave of support for blockchain technology and a Kansas City startup operating within the open metaverse.  Overland Park-based CryptoSlam, a leading…

Digital Sandbox KC recipients: Jaqwan Sirls, PageMaster; Aishah Augusta-Parham, SEPOW; Brandon Fuhr and Joel Stephens, XReps; David Roberson, AZELLA; Eliot Arnold, MoodSpark; and Nikil Ragav, InventXYZ

Just funded: Digital Sandbox KC starts new year with six new startups on its roster

Digital Sandbox KC’s latest round of startup funding reflects the emergence of more Kansas City-built, scalable tech in the new year, said Jill Meyer, announcing the fourth-quarter roster of companies bringing innovative ideas to life in the region. “These six companies demonstrate the creativity and diversity of our region’s technology founders and problem solvers,” said…

Merger alert: ‘Shark Tank’ star teams with Gary Fish, Fishtech to form new cybersecurity powerhouse

A merger announced today between award-winning cybersecurity solutions providers Fishtech Group  and Herjavec Group will unite the companies as a single entity under a new brand to be announced in early 2022.  The deal — backed by funds advised by Apax Partners LLP (The Apax Funds), which will hold a majority stake in the new…

Robert Feeney and B. Wayne Bradley, KaaS, Ringorang

A Silicon Valley startup relocated to Kansas in June; it’s latest move goes ‘all-in’ on Wichita

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. One…

Miranda Schultz, Daniel Smith, Charon Thompson, and Jahna Riley, The Porter House KC

UMB Bank deposits $350K supporting The Porter House KC; $1.25M in year-end KC donations to benefit underserved communities

A hefty, end-of-year donation from UMB Bank will provide The Porter House KC an opportunity to dig deeper in assisting local entrepreneurs, said Daniel Smith, expressing appreciation for the $350,000 boost. “These resources will be used to continue our current work and implement another program that will assist small businesses with direct support, creating additional…