Funding Stories
‘Beacon of light’ — Meet four new Digital Sandbox startups that could reshape KC tech
Digital Sandbox KC’s latest quartet of funded companies will help Kansas City build a better, more inclusive startup ecosystem, said Jill Meyer. “We’ve always been keenly aware of the inequities in the tech ecosystem, especially for entrepreneurs of color,” said Meyer, who leads Digital Sandbox and is senior director of the Technology Ventures Studio at…
Healium adapts VR to needs of COVID ‘stress olympics’ — wins P&G Ventures innovation challenge
Stress levels rose with the number of Coronavirus cases over the past few months — and neither seem headed for decline any time soon, said Sarah Hill, the recently announced winner of the P&G Ventures Innovation Challenge. “This is the stress olympics. Not everyone has trained for it. Not only are we trapped in our homes,…
Ronawk cultivates first funding round, fight against COVID-19 from new Olathe lab
As COVID-19 continues to wage war on the world, researchers in an Olathe-based lab are generating trillions of human cells that could be used to cure the ever-lingering virus. “It eliminates a lot of the work that’s needed,” A.J. Mellott, president and co-founder of Ronawk, said of the health tech startup’s premiere product — Tissue Blocks…
Rise Up, Get Started winners: Building a second chance as job market sputters
A slowly recovering job market is pushing more people — many of whom previously didn’t imagine ever running their own businesses — into entrepreneurship, said Kyle J. Smith. “The Kauffman Foundation would say they’re starting a business out of necessity rather than choice,” Smith elaborated, describing the importance of programs that provide a second chance…
Reluctant gym-goers help push KC’s OYO to $4.4M in pre-sales for latest home fitness device
A month after breaking records as the most-funded fitness product in Kickstarter history, the KC-created OYO Nova Gym closed its crowdfunding campaign with $4.4 million in pre-sales. “To say that it exceeded our expectations is a total understatement,” said Graham Ripple, COO of OYO Fitness, the Kansas City-based startup behind the handheld home gym product….
