Startups Stories

Zachary Oshinbanjo, Vetelligence, Pure Pitch Rally

Just funded: Sharks, crowd salute veteran-led tech newcomer with $32K in Pure Pitch Rally checks

A fresh face to the startup stage, Zachary Oshinbanjo left Monday’s Pure Pitch Rally with the most-funded venture of the event — taking home more than a third of the day’s nearly $90,000 in cash prizes. A U.S. Army veteran, Oshinbanjo pitched “land sharks” on Vetelligence — a tech platform that aims to create a…

Riddhiman Das, TripleBlind

TripleBlind posts $24M round as interest in its data privacy tech expands, founder talks $100M+ valuation

An oversubscribed $24 million Series A funding round announced Monday is expected to push Kansas City-coded TripleBlind into new verticals as it rapidly scales and finds itself a leader in data efficiency.  The startup — which previously secured $8.2 million in seed funding in April — found return support in Mayo Clinic, which co-led the…

Recyclverse products

Fund Me, KC: UMKC alums aim to transform recycled plastics into functional home décor

Startland News is continuing its “Fund Me, KC” series to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses or lend a helping hand to others. This is an opportunity for business owners and innovators — like Nicole Dover and Tony Jordan, and their newly launched venture, Recyclverse — to share their crowdfunding stories and potentially…

Shekhar Gupta, MyAnIML, Blockchain Initiatives

Blockchain to beef: Why one serial innovator traded the slow pace of corporate life for another muzzle

Shekhar Gupta learned early that life comes with two approaches for overcoming challenges: accept the problem and move on or figure out a better way of solving it. The Kansas City serial entrepreneur has no shortage of ideas for finding solutions, but he keeps moving nonetheless. As COO of Blockchain Initiatives, Gupta has his hands…

Risa Stein, SeeInMe; Alex Burton and Leo Esposito, Bozt; Rebecca Simons, CuePlay; Michael Eichenseer, VRdojo; Jason Reid, KNIMO; and Jill and Justin Bertelsen, Bertelsen Education

Meet six newly funded companies helping get KC’s economy ‘back on track’ with Digital Sandbox

Digital Sandbox funding is a game-changer for CuePlay — one of six companies selected for the proof of concept program’s latest cohort — said founder Rebecca Simons, who first launched the idea two years ago at Techstars’ Startup Weekend in Kansas City. “It allows us to finish the development of a beta app and get it…