Startups Stories

Chatterbox speaks the language of reluctant learners: games featuring global cast of AI tutors

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.  WICHITA — A Kansas-built language-learning app takes a gamified approach to fluency — inspired by travel and the simple joys of players feel when competing in traditional board games, said…

C2FO hits its first billion-dollar day; marks $400B in funding to customers as global finance shifts

A record-breaking year for C2FO serves as a proof point itself, said Sandy Kemper, revealing the Kansas City-built fintech surpassed $400 billion in lifetime funding to its customers in 2024 and achieved $1 billion of daily funding for the first time. “The success of the past year only demonstrates the tremendous need for more efficient…

KC-based Jayhawk startups earn cut of $570K from Oread Angel Investors pitch event

LAWRENCE, Kansas — Four Kansas City-area startups with ties to the University of Kansas recently took home funding infusions from a newly formed network of Sunflower State investors — part of a rapidly advancing initiative led by KU Innovation Park. Members of the Oread Angel Investors network, which launched in September and now has about…

Meet 5 new startups bolstering KC innovation (now with a funding boost from Digital Sandbox)

Just-announced funding for a handful of fresh tech ventures is expected to help Kansas City founders who already are poised to make a significant impact in their industries, from health care to government to education. Digital Sandbox KC has accepted five new startups into its program. Each is expected to receive up to $20,000 in…

10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2025

It’ll be a year for entrepreneurs on a mission. Many of the startups poised to make eye-catching headlines in 2025 also are working toward a better future — for the earth, for mothers, for people who love their pets, for Kansas Citians who’ve embraced the city’s craft community, and even for sports enthusiasts honing their…