KC Digital Drive: Kansas City companies win 3 of 21 gigabit app awards so far
April 27, 2018 | Startland News Staff
Two Kansas City startups each recently earned $10,000 awards through a program promoting gigabit app development in the metro. A third firm won previously.
OnTimeSocial and PlanIT Impact were among 11 companies honored this spring by US Ignite, which seeks to leverage networking technologies to build stronger smart communities. In Kansas City, US Ignite and its Smart Gigabit Communities grants are managed by KC Digital Drive.
“Leaders in each of our Smart Gigabit Communities worked with development teams to identify the most promising gigabit applications in their regions,” US Ignite said in a press release.
Technology from OnTimeSocial provides a framework to unify data streams generated by smart devices into a social framework for improved community engagement and remote user interaction. PlanIT Impact is an architectural planning service that streams in big data to provide a dynamic city planning platform to decrease cost and improve environmental efficiency in urban construction.
Both companies — along with past KC-based $10,000 awardee Gigabots — have been active with US Ignite for years, said Aaron Deacon, managing director of KC Digital Drive. The trio are among 21 gigabit app award winners so far, he said.
“PlanIT Impact was actually one of our first projects,” Deacon said. “We put a team together in advance of our first gigabit hackathon in 2013. It has continued to get funding through sources we’ve brought to town or cultivated.”
Between US Ignite programs and the Mozilla Gigabit Community Fund, the startup has been awarded around $100,000, he added. PlanIT Impact additionally was a 2017 Launch KC winner, earning a $50,000 prize.
Led by Jonathan Wagner, Gigabots also has been funded by Mozilla — through multiple rounds and in multiple cities, he said.
Featured Business
2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KCK opens up data portal for transparency, ‘public good’
In an effort to increase transparency and improve services, the City of Kansas City, Kan. is offering access to large swaths of public data via a portal that makes the information more digestible. Thanks to a new open data administrative order, KCK launched its new data portal Thursday for residents to see such information as…
Fund me, KC: Crossing Arrows launches clothing line for the spirited girl
Startland News is continuing its segment to highlight area entrepreneurs’ efforts to accelerate their businesses. This is an opportunity for entrepreneurs — like Crossing Arrows founder Tricia Steffes — to share their stories to gain a little help from their supporters. Back Crossing Arrows’ here. Who are you? Crossing Arrows, a clothing line is designed…
Kansas kicks off effort to increase high-speed Internet for schools
The Sunflower State it planning to boost Internet speeds in its public schools. The State of Kansas on Tuesday announced a partnership with San Francisco-based nonprofit EducationSuperHighway to increase school districts’ access to affordable, high-speed broadband. At no cost, the organization will help districts with IT support and data analysis to help upgrade the schools’…
With a halt on new overtime rules, what’s next for startups?
Disruption is good, right? Well, as the Game of Thrones memes say: “Brace yourselves.” The Department of Labor overtime rules that were originally scheduled to go into effect on Dec. 1 have now been indefinitely postponed due to an injunction issued on Nov.22 by U.S. District Judge Amos Mazzant. These rules were set to nearly…