Startups Stories

National champion KU mens basketball team; photo courtesy of the University of Kansas

FanThreeSixty teams with national champs, turning data into actionable plays to boost revenue, KU fan experience

Another national championship title isn’t the only banner win the University of Kansas Athletics is adding to its rafters this year.  Weeks after scoring the NCAA men’s basketball title, the university has partnered with Kansas City-dunked FanThreeSixty to better connect with its fanbase in seasons to come.  “By partnering with FanThreeSixty, not only will Kansas…

Sean McIntosh, Foothold Labs

His portable lab can detect COVID in saliva within minutes; how this former Navy SEAL’s startup is expanding its target

Foothold Labs is on a mission to develop a next-generation, portable diagnostics system that can not only rapidly detect infectious diseases in saliva within five-to-eight minutes, but also indicate deadly contaminants in other common substances, shared Sean McIntosh. “To get equivalent results to our technology, someone would need to submit a sample to a professional…

Digital Sandbox Q1 2022 awardees: Dan Schwarzlander and Nick Bennet, VaccineAssist; Sean McIntosh and Sarah Steeby, Foothold Labs; Roger Ngo and Tam Tran, DataAppraisal; Lisa Cooper, Workplace Healing; Tyler Bolz and Will Strout, DataSource

Meet 5 new Digital Sandbox-funded startups poised as the next wave of KC innovation

A just-announced first-quarter cohort of startups are set to receive more than just $20,000 each in project funding from Digital Sandbox KC, said Jill Meyer, emphasizing the holistic support headed toward selected founders. “Early-stage funding is just one piece of the puzzle that helps our founders succeed and our startups accelerate toward commercialization and follow-on…

Cara Hennessy, Sarah-Allen Preston, and Morgan Miller, afloat

Made in KC partners with afloat to provide same-day gifting of exclusive care packages

Kansas Citians can now get same-day delivery from the city’s largest local marketplace through afloat — a gifting app by one of the metro’s leading startups that allows community members to pick out and send neatly-packaged goods to their loved ones, said Sarah-Allen Preston. “We have always been huge fans of Made in KC, and…

Heidi Lehmann and Michael Prewitt, Kenzen

Kenzen shortlisted for Webby Award; Here’s how you can help make this Startup to Watch a People’s Voice winner

A Kansas City startup that’s gained accolades and hefty investment for its wearable health monitoring device is nominated for Best App and Software in the 26th Annual Webby Awards — the highest profile awards recognition for excellence on the Internet. “Nominees like Kenzen are setting the standard for innovation and creativity on the Internet,” said…