Trio of tech startups hop in the Digital Sandbox
June 21, 2016 | Bobby Burch
A trio of tech startups have entered the Kansas City-based incubator Digital Sandbox KC.
Led by entrepreneur Jeff Shackelford, the incubator welcomed Flokk, Routine Success and Tapyness into its program.
Digital Sandbox invests up to $25,000 in area businesses for specific projects that help the firms secure additional funding. The organization has now supported 73 proof-of-concept projects in 2015.
Here’s a bit more on the three startups entering the program:
Flokk created a social event platform that connects people to events and rewards. The platform also analyzes data and content to connect event organizers to sponsors. The platform offers proximity-based promotions, automatic checks, real-time analytics as the event is happening and a customer loyalty program. The funds will help Flokk accelerate tech development of its app platform.
Routine Success enables parents of children with ADHD and autism build digital routines to assist their children throughout the day. Routines are delivered to the child through a discreet, “watch-form-factor wearable” that cuts costs of other hardware. The Sandbox funding will help the company prototype a product.
Tapyness created a quick survey platform to help businesses capture consumer feedback as they’re leaving a location. The surveys aim to offer businesses more insight on customer feedback. The Sandbox funds will help the company with app and dashboard development and beta testing.
Since Digital Sandbox’s 2013 launch, the organization has funded 73 projects, helped launch 27 new businesses, enabled the growth of 247 jobs and spurred $22.7 million in follow-on funding. The program is funded in part by two i6 Challenge grants from the Department of Commerce Economic Development Administration, as well as universities, private companies and KCSourceLink.
Digital Sandbox welcomes applications on a rolling basis and evaluates startups every eight weeks. Launched in February 2013, the Digital Sandbox KC has worked with more than 300 entrepreneurs and early-stage companies across the metro area. Visit www.digitalsandboxkc.com for more information.
Featured Business
2016 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Bunker Labs KC returns to deploy connections to veterans transitioning to entrepreneurship
Military members typically make incredible connections with comrades abroad, but when they return to the U.S. as veterans they often struggle to establish a worthwhile network, said Joe Crane. That sense of isolation can inhibit would-be entrepreneurs from breaking into the startup world. “It’s tough for veterans to connect,” said Crane, Bunker Labs’ city leader…
Chicken N Pickle heading south: Prairiefire location to offer seasonal ice skating, curling
A new entertainment destination is slated for the final phase of Overland Park’s Prairiefire development with North Kansas City-based Chicken N Pickle targeting a fall 2020 opening. “Opening a second location in the area will allow us to share the love of pickleball with customers who have been requesting a location on the Kansas side…
Adobe for adventure: KC’s VanDoIt offers affordable travel, housing solution nationwide
VanDoIt is no sideshow venture for Brent Kline and his son-in-law, Jared McCauslin. The duo’s custom van and restoration business has a partnership with Ford and customers motoring coast to coast. “We have a couple out of Tulsa, Oklahoma, and they are actually a traveling circus act — like, they are actually a circus act…
C2FO’s advice: Seek global capital, local startup partners (Top VC-Backed event photos)
Leawood-based fintech powerhouse C2FO didn’t raise nearly $300 million in capital by accident, nor without a strategy for selecting the right investors, Kerri Thurston told a crowd of founders, executives and investors gathered to celebrate the startups on Startland’s list of Kansas City’s Top Venture Capital-Backed Companies in 2019. “Focus on folks who can really…