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
This startup leader is revealing entrepreneur answers (and they’re listed in the table of contents)
Aligning the stars as a forward-looking founder and business owner isn’t easy, Maria Flynn noted, so she wrote her own guidebook. “Entrepreneurs are my tribe of people,” said Flynn, a serial founder and regional digital health leader. “And I was telling the same stories over and over again, so I started to write them down.…
He earned industry cred alongside Ariana Grande; now Jo Blaq wants to share the music with emerging KC artists
Joseph Macklin forged a successful music career through trial and error, he said, but that doesn’t mean the next generation should be forced to endure those same challenges just to feel like they earned credibility. The multi-platinum, Grammy award-nominated music producer, songwriter, engineer, and vocal arranger — known as Jo Blaq — is on a…
Nation’s best dog bar planning new tricks in KC after fetching top award, summer funding round
The dog days of summer are bringing momentum to Bar K, said David Hensley. The Kansas City-based escape space for pets and their owners was recently named top dog in the country by USA Today, just closed a funding round, and added several key team members — including Tim Schoenfelder as CEO — the co-founder…
Let’s eat out: KCMO wants more outdoor dining; new grants program pays for restaurant upgrades
Outdoor dining’s economic impact outlasted the pandemic, said Mayor Quinton Lucas. A new push to boost KCMO businesses — with the backing of city tourism dollars — is expected to help local restaurants, coffee shops, and bars embrace the opportunity, he said. His goal: Make outdoor dining spaces even more attractive to visitors and hometown…