10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022
December 15, 2021 | Startland News Staff
Innovation in Kansas City knows no age or industry. From pre-seed stage startups to firms with dozens of employees, the leading edge of tech in the Heartland has taken root — and grown in unexpected forms.
The future newsmakers showcased as part of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022 list each are focused on making lives easier — for small business owners, corporations, friends, pet lovers and even livestock. They’re bridging the worlds of on-demand services and niche industry solutions, urban living and the animal health corridor.
[pullquote]
An in-depth interview special with the Startups to Watch founders will stream online Jan. 20 in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Spark Kansas City, KC BizCare, Evergy Ventures, Husch Blackwell and Bank of America.
Click here for access to the online broadcast.
[/pullquote]
Nearly two years after a global pandemic rocked every vertical in every industry, as supply chain challenges linger, and consumers, investors and partners evolve — these companies are poised to make some of the new year’s biggest headlines.
Choosing only 10 companies to highlight wasn’t easy. If an ongoing pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that tenacity and perseverance have never been stronger in Kansas City. As always with this annual look ahead — now in its seventh year — the final result isn’t a declaration of the “best of the best.” The Startups to Watch list is intended to pointedly represent the momentum the Startland News editorial team sees in the newsmakers we cover every day.
The 2022 list was compiled through more than six months of on-going research and countless (in-person and virtual) conversations with community experts, funders and support organizations. Ultimately, curation of the list relied heavily on the honesty, openness and track record of founders.
The Startland News editorial team culled about 35 semi-finalists from nearly 300 nominations and newsroom-generated leads, narrowed that list to 20, and finally to the selected Startups to Watch class of 2022. We’re confident these founders and companies will be shaping the narrative of Kansas City’s tech and innovation progress and strength in the year to come.
Keep scrolling to discover Startland News’ 10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022, listed in alphabetical order.
Click here to check out Startland News’ 2021 list, or look back at our original predictions in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
The Kansas City Startups Watch in 2022 list is made possible by presenting sponsors Husch Blackwell and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, though independently produced by Startland News.
[divide]
Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022
- Founders: Sarah-Allen Preston, Laura McKnight, Olivia Lynn
- Founding year: 2020
- Current employee count: 7
- Amount raised to date: Undisclosed
- Noteworthy investors: Undisclosed
- Programs completed: Techstars Kansas City
Click here for a full profile on afloat.
Sarah-Allen Preston, afloat
[divide]
- Founders: Luke Lim, Andrew Potter
- Founding year: 2017
- Current employee count: 13
- Amount raised to date: Just over $1.7 million
- Noteworthy investors: Crux Collective, Accelerate Venture Partners, Wichita Technology Ventures Capital Multiplier Fund, Kansas Angel Tax Credit Program
- Programs completed: Pipeline Entrepreneurs, programming offered by Accelerate Venture Partners
Click here for a full profile on Approach.
Luke Lim and Andrew Potter, Approach
[divide]
- Founder: Jonaie Johnson
- Founding year: 2019
- Current employee count: 1
- Amount raised to date: $60,000
- Noteworthy investors: Digital Sandbox KC, bootstrapped
- Programs completed: AfroTech Young Founders pitch competition, Collegiate Entrepreneurs’ Organization pitch competition, Center for Black Innovation accelerator
Click here for a full profile on Interplay.
Jonaie Johnson, Interplay
[divide]
- Founders: Heidi Lehmann, Nora Levinson
- Founding year: 2016
- Current employee count: 15
- Amount raised to date: $4.3 million
- Noteworthy investors: Digitalis Ventures, Royal Street Ventures, Working Capital Fund, Manifold Group, Signal Peak VC, Sofia Fund, KCRise Fund, Examinetics
- Programs completed: Plug and Play Topeka, Plug and Play Japan
Click here for a full profile on Kenzen.
Heidi Lehmann, Kenzen
[divide]
- Founders: Bo Lais, Will Parrish
- Founding year: 2016 (went to market in 2017)
- Current employee count: 11
- Amount raised to date: Just under $1.2 million
- Noteworthy investors: Undisclosed
- Programs completed: Pitch Perfect at the Enterprise Center in Johnson County, Pipeline Entrepreneurs, programming offered by KC Collective
Click here for a full profile on Lula.
Bo Lais, Lula
[divide]
- Founder: Shekhar Gupta
- Founding year: 2021
- Current employee count: 5
- Amount raised to date: Undisclosed
- Noteworthy investors: Harry Campbell, Nathan Leiker, Juan Ramos
- Programs completed: Techstars Kansas City
Click here for a full profile on MyAnIML.
Shekhar Gupta, MyAnIML
[divide]
- Founder: David Biga
- Founding year: 2015
- Current employee count: 5
- Amount raised to date: $650,000
- Noteworthy investors: Undisclosed angel investors
- Programs completed: Pitch Perfect at the Enterprise Center in Johnson County, Digital Sandbox KC, ELEVATIONLAB programming with the Missouri Small Business Development Center at the University of Missouri-Kansas City
Click here for a full profile on Particle Space.
David Biga, Particle Space
[divide]
- Founders: Wyatt Cobb
- Founding year: 2017
- Current employee count: 15
- Amount raised to date: Just under $10 million
- Noteworthy investors: Senior Execs at RBC, IBM, CrowdStrike
- Programs completed: Global Alliance Partner to Fortinet, Palo Alto Networks, Dell, ISO 27001 self-certified, DoD accredited CMMC Registered Provider Organization
Click here for a full profile on SOFTwarfare.
Wyatt Cobb, SOFTwarfare
[divide]
- Founders: Juaquan Herron, Rodney McDuffie
- Founding year: 2020
- Current employee count: 5 (3 independent contractors)
- Amount raised to date: $36,000 (grant programs)
- Programs completed: Venture Noire Accelerator, Pure Pitch Rally (bootcamp and pitch competition), Goodie Nation, Canadian Wealth Startup Pitch Competition, Spark Tank Pitch, Digital Sandbox KC
Click here for a full profile on Venboo.
Juaquan Herron, Venboo
[divide]
- Founders: Chris Hoke, Jeff Rice, Brian Kellogg
- Founding year: 2015
- Current employee count: 50
- Amount raised to date: $6 million
- Noteworthy investors: Matt Watson (VinSolutions), Cypress Capital, locals Bob Green (Backlot Cars) and John Mitchell
Click here for a full profile on VinCue.
Danny Zaslavsky and Chris Hoke, VinCue
[divide]
Check out previous lists of Kansas City Startups to Watch
Featured Business
2021 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
André’s planted its flag in KC 70 years ago; chocolatier says that’s just a taste of what’s to come
Nearly 5,000 miles from Switzerland, a small group toured the inner sanctum of an iconic 70-year-old Kansas City company — a family-run brand that helped redefine accessible luxury in the Midwest, one Swiss chocolate-covered almond at a time. “What people get excited about André’s is the legacy, that we take a lot of pride in…
Here’s how ULAH’s new boutique model aims to rack success for local brands, not inventory debt
The new KC Collective consignment-based program for local brands at ULAH is a win for both the Westwood boutique and Kansas City creatives, said Joey Mendez and Buck Wimberly, announcing a fresh model to help the struggling store stay open and financially stable. “We’ve always had local brands,” said Mendez, co-founder of ULAH, explaining the…
Tiki Taco ticks up giving alongside expansion; CEO owns up to taco shop’s neighborhood impact model
A month-long campaign in the popular Kansas City-based chain offers easy add-on: joining KC GIFT’s network of donors Restaurant executive Eric Knott wants Tiki Taco’s operators to own the neighborhoods into which the popular taco shop expands, he said, but that doesn’t just mean dominating the fast-casual market in each pocket of Kansas City. “Our…