Introducing 2017’s Top 10 Under-the-Radar startups in Kansas City
August 29, 2017 | Startland News Staff
Whether they’re intentionally lying low or just working too hard to stop and share their stories, Kansas City is full of inconspicuous innovators.
Consider this list of 10 firms as a spotlight into the shadows of promising, but little-known Kansas City startups.
As we stated in last year’s list, “under the radar” is a relative term — we had to hear of these startups somehow. Even though we might have already written about some of these companies, many still operate in relative obscurity within the broader Kansas City business community.
This list hopes to shed light on promising firms that either you have never heard of or might have an interest in learning more about. Let us know what you think or if you have recommendations for other “under-the-radar” startups.
Without further ado, here are 2017’s Under the Radar startups in no particular order.
Happy Food Co.
Founding Year: 2015
Founders: Kiersten Firquain and Jeff Glasco
Elevator pitch: Happy Food Co makes it easy to enjoy great local food at home, preparing fresh meal kits with everything you need to whip up a restaurant-quality meal in no time flat. FOR MORE ON HAPPY FOOD CO., CHECK OUT THIS PROFILE …
Kiersten Firquain and Jeff Glasco
ZOHR
Founding Year: 2015
Founders: Komal Choong and Anoop Choong
Elevator Pitch: Zohr offers a simpler way to get your tires changed by delivering and installing them at your home or office.
FOR MORE ON ZOHR, CHECK OUT THIS PROFILE …
ZOHR co-founders Komal Choong and Anoop Choong
MusicSpoke
Founding Year: 2014
Founders: Jennifer Rosenblatt and Kurt Knecht
Elevator Pitch: MusicSpoke is online sheet music marketplace for self-published composers.
FOR MORE ON MUSICSPOKE CHECK OUT THIS PROFILE …
Kurt Knecht and Jennifer Rosenblatt
Venture360
Founding year: 2013
Founders: Rachael Qualls and James Pierce
Elevator Pitch: Venture360 powers the venture capital industry from application to exit.
FOR MORE ON VENTURE360, CHECK OUT THIS PROFILE …
James Pierce and Rachael Qualls
OneHQ
Founding Year: 2012
Founder: Kyle J. Ginavan
Elevator Pitch: OneHQ solves complex operations, sales, marketing and accounting problems for insurance agencies, insurance brokerages, insurance carriers, broker dealers and registered investment advisors.
FOR MORE ON ONEHQ, CHECK OUT THIS PROFILE …
The OneHQ team
TradeLanes
Founding Year: 2015
Founders: Vijay Harrell, Delvin Higginson, Brandon Jimenez, Corey Myers and Jack Shelton
Elevator Pitch: TradeLanes is a software-as-a-service that enables shippers, merchants and traders to better control their supply chain. FOR MORE ON TRADELANES CHECK OUT THIS PROFILE …
Vijay Harrel and Delvin Higginson
Dunami
Founding Year: 2012
Founders: Pat Butler, Tony Marshall and Mark Schwalm
Elevator Pitch: Dunami helps clients find relevant audiences and identify those with the most influence.
FOR MORE ON DUNAMI, CHECK OUT THIS PROFILE …
Pat Butler, Tony Marshall, Steve Davis and Mark Schwalm
Sprout Solutions
Founding Year: 2016
Founders: Gretchen Henry and Jim Taylor
Elevator Pitch: Sprout Solutions provides software services for professionals in the animal feed industry, including both mill operators and merchandisers. FOR MORE ON SPROUT SOLUTIONS CHECK OUT THIS PROFILE …
Jim Taylor and Gretchen Henry
RiskGenius
Founding Year: 2012
Founders: Chris Cheatham and Doug Reiser
Elevator Pitch: RiskGenius organizes the world’s insurance information. Our machine learning algorithms structure insurance policy information and serve it up to carriers, brokers and regulators in our RiskGenius platform.
FOR MORE ON RISK GENIUS, CHECK OUT THIS PROFILE …
The RiskGenius team
OYO Fitness
Founding Year: 2014
Founders: Paul Francis
Elevator Pitch: Fitness where you are right now. OYO provides On Your Own fitness.
FOR MORE ON OYO FITNESS CHECK OUT THIS PROFILE …
Paul Francis
Featured Business
2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
On the agenda: What are GEW’s 10 most popular events so far? Practical workshops
With more than 170 events planned, organizers of Global Entrepreneurship Week already are seeing registration trends from those building their weeklong agendas at GEWKC.org Topping the most popular are GEW’s kickoff breakfast — set to explore the future in terms of emerging Latino markets, transportation and the Hyperloop, and sports technology — and Marquita Miller’s…
BlackTech Week curating GEW conversation between founders with ‘true experiences’
Bringing BlackTech Week to Kansas City for a day — and debuting the event series during Global Entrepreneurship Week — seemed like a natural fit, said Denayja Reese. The Miami-based festival draws together black entrepreneur leaders who already are championing the startup hustle of their communities, she said. Powered by Code Fever, which was founded…
Saudi Arabian investment pushing KC’s WISE Power into Nigeria, Japan, Middle East markets
The multimillion-dollar investment from a Saudi Arabian accelerator and capital firm is pushing WISE Power from the West Bottoms to global growth, said Kevin Williams. “The injection will allow us to expand quickly to get this technology out to the world, which was what our original intent was with WISE Power,” said Williams, founder of…
Fund Me, KC: ‘Rise Up, Get Started’ competitions give spotlight to formerly incarcerated entrepreneurs
Startland News is continuing its segment to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs — like startup community leader founder Kyle J. Smith’s Rise Up, Get Started campaign— to share their crowdfunding stories to gain a little help from their supporters. Who are you? I am Kyle J Smith, founder of…