Digital Sandbox charges three new startups with its proof-of-concept challenge
January 25, 2019 | Startland News Staff
An effort to elevate Kansas City’s creative minds, Digital Sandbox KC is digging deeper in its sixth year of acceleration — adding three new startups to its portfolio, the proof-of-concept program announced this week.
Jeff Shackelford, Digital Sandbox
“Our initial goal was to find 10 early-stage concepts that had high-growth potential and help them secure follow-on funding,” said Jeff Shackelford, executive director. “We’ve now had 76 sandbox companies secure over $68 million in funding and have created more than 600 area jobs.”
Companies joining the Digital Sandbox fold in 2019 include; data theft thwarting tech, Erkios Systems; digital assistant platform, Üdo; and artificial intelligence enabled, water management platform, Blockchain Water.
“The range of concepts we continue to see presented to the Sandbox is incredible,” Shackelford said of the companies chosen to take part in the program.
Already having gained traction in the Kansas City startup space is Erkios Systems, one of eight $50,000 winners in the 2018 LaunchKC grants competition.
Click here to read more about Erkios.
“This Digital Sandbox KC award is a major benefit, not just for Erkios Systems, but for the world,” said Ryan Sylvia, CTO, Erkios Systems. “This will facilitate Erkios Systems to enhance and streamline its product offering to secure the Internet of Things devices that, until now, had no viable solutions.”
Read about Erkios Systems winning appearance at LaunchKC 2018 here.
In its first five years, Digital Sandbox created job opportunities that infused more than $14 million into the pockets of Kansas Citians, bolstering the local economy, the company said.
“Digital Sandbox KC funding is a very important validation and will help us move our platform to market at much faster rate,” said Elangovan Thevar, Blockchain Water founder. “Digital Sandbox KC provides great local support and other resources to propel our venture to the next stage and reach our goals. We are very excited to start our entrepreneurial journey.”
Featured Business
2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
E-Scholars grad Heidi Van pushes boundaries with ‘nomadic theater’
Obstacles along the path to success are often produced in the minds of the creative people themselves, Heidi Van said. “These obstacles are created from self-doubt,” said Van, Fishtank Theatre founder and artistic director. “If you actually looked closer and broke it down into action items, you could probably make a couple of phone calls…
Jobs alert: 5 Techstars firms now hiring in Kansas City
Less than halfway through Techstars’ three-month program, five startup companies in the class are hiring. The program’s first annual cohort — which included 10 startups — spent the first month meeting nearly 100 mentors and investors. Following the feedback, half of the class is ready to scale and hire more people, said Techstars managing director Lesa Mitchell.…
Techstars Spotlight: Startup hopes to bridge teacher-school gap
Matching best-fit teachers to school districts can be challenging, Michael Barnes said. Serving nearly three years as a district talent manager at Austin Achieve public schools, in Austin, Texas, Barnes felt a lot of pressure to make the right decisions for students. “Oftentimes I would stay up until 2 a.m., wishing I had better teachers…
5 TEDxKC perspectives on navigating life’s next disruptions
What’s the greatest threat to humanity? Self obsession? Artificial intelligence? Resentment? Depends on your perspective. An eclectic group of TEDxKC presenters gathered Friday at the Kauffman Center of Performing Arts to share their expertise on how art, philosophy, technology, individual experiences and even interpersonal relationships shape the perspectives through which people see the reality around…