Claimkit snags ‘aspirational entrepreneur’ award
May 15, 2015 | Bobby Burch
CEO Chris Cheatham, left, and Director of Business Services Tyler Round
Overland Park-based tech startup ClaimKit recently was dubbed 2015’s most “aspirational entrepreneur” by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce.
Founded in 2011, Claimkit created a contract management platform for insurance companies, law firms and consulting groups to help them more efficiently collect and analyze documents. Now with five full time staff, the company in January raised a $940,000 Series A round and has managed $2 billion in claims and litigations to date.
The chamber’s commendation is awarded to companies less than three-years-old and that have been founded on “ideology, values, and the goal to make change through enrichment,” according to the chamber.
“(The award) is very cool because it validates what the ClaimKit team has been doing,”ClaimKit CEO Chris Cheatham said. “It’s one thing to have an idea. We are at the stage where we are implementing it, which is an unbelievable feeling. The ClaimKit team is doing an amazing job since they came on last year and I am happy this honor recognizes each person’s contributions.”
The Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce conferred the 2015 Small Business of the Year Award — or Mr. K Award — to architecture and design firm BNIM. Whitley Construction Company nabbed the Diverse Small Business of the Year award.
Cheatham also offered kudos to Kansas City’s community, and those that helped foster the company’s success.
“The Entrepreneur Award is absolutely a reflection of the amazing Kansas City and Midwest entrepreneurial community — ClaimKit wouldn’t exist without it,” ClaimKit CEO Chris Cheatham said. “From our first employees, to our investors —like the Mid-America Angels, Nelnet and our board — it’s a reflection of the Midwest investing time and money into innovation. Partners like the Kaufman Foundation, KC Chamber and Pipeline have all provided important resources. Thank you to everyone who helped us win this award.”
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Tech workforce program championed by former Chiefs star graduates its first KC class
An education initiative recently launched in Kansas City not only focuses on lifting up young people from low-income backgrounds and helping them succeed in the high-tech sector, said pro football hall of famer Will Shields: it upends a cycle of decline and replaces it with building blocks. i.c.stars, headquartered in Chicago, launched in Kansas City…
Build-A-Bear founder joins VFA’s board, lauding group as an ‘onramp’ to entrepreneurship for overlooked young professionals
ST. LOUIS — A hometown founder and entrepreneurial icon is joining the board of one of the region’s premiere work placement opportunities for early-career professionals. Maxine Clark, founder of Build-A-Bear Workshop — the teddy-bear-themed retailer she launched in 1997 in St. Lous — is the latest appointment to the national board of directors for Venture…
Leveraging KC’s resources: How the right people at the right time can unlock a startup’s potential
The level of collaboration seen in Kansas City’s entrepreneurial ecosystem is unmatched by peer communities, said Jill Meyer, noting it’s not a phenomenon that developed by accident. And it takes transparency and trust, she added. “There is a lot of work that resource partners do to make sure that our companies and our founders have…
Looking for investors? A startup’s first ask shouldn’t be for money, leading VCs say
Most startup founders think of funding as transactional, Darcy Howe shared, but it’s actually relational. “You’ve got to have relationships with people long before they’ll fund and that includes angels and all the others,” the KCRise Fund founding managing director told a crowd gathered at UMKC’s Bloch Executive Hall for Startland News’ Kansas City Startups…