Startups Stories

Flight Schedule Pro

Overland Park aviation software firm flies in $31M growth equity investment from Austin

Flight Schedule Pro — the maker of industry-leading cloud-based tech for flight schools, universities, and flying clubs — recently opened the hangar doors on $31 million in funding from an investor landing deals with fast-growing, bootstrapped software companies. Financial terms of the investment from Mainsail Partners, a growth equity firm that boasts offices in Austin…

Legalfit management team on a trip to Colorado; photo courtesy of Robert Zhou

Kansas legal tech startup’s exit unlocks opportunity to accelerate innovation, founder says

An Overland Park startup developing intuitive websites and marketing solutions for small law firms says its just-announced acquisition by a leading cloud-based legal operations platform is the verdict needed to push its services to mid-market clients and beyond. “Combining the best-in-class websites with practice management software unlocks a unique opportunity to deepen product integration and…

Hays Bailey, SHEQSY, and Luke Anear, SafetyCulture

SafetyCulture acquires safety app for decentralized frontline workers who often go it alone

A global workplace operations company with its U.S. headquarters in Kansas City on Tuesday announced the acquisition of SHEQSY, a cloud-based lone worker safety app — a move meant to address an underinvestment in frontline processes, enablement, and emerging technologies, said Luke Anear. “Frontline workers make up 80 percent of our global workforces,” said Anear,…

Nick Smith, Saile

Startup embraces ‘digital labor’, creating personalized robots for tedious tasks — beginning with cold calls

Salespeople spend too much time searching for emails, making cold calls and setting up meetings — leaving less energy for comprehensive conversations and closing deals, said Nick Smith. His solution: robots for salespeople or, as he calls them, “Sailebots.”  “One day I had a revelation that there could be a tool for these mundane tasks….

EquipmentShare, Columbia, Missouri

Forbes names EquipmentShare to list of best startup employers for third straight year

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,…