10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2021
January 13, 2021 | Startland News Staff
In a world disrupted, entrepreneurs are leading the charge — remaking their communities in the image of innovation and meeting a rising demand for solutions to real-world problems.
The future newsmakers assembled as part of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2021 list are eager to reinvent. They’re simplifying over-complicated industries and blazing bold trails in critical sectors, from healthcare and GovTech to hospitality and even four-legged entertainment.
Celebrating the Startups to Watch in 2021
An in-depth interview special with the Startups to Watch founders will stream Jan. 27 in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation and Plexpod. The one-time-only broadcast is produced by Stellar Image Studios.
Click here for tickets to the Jan. 27 premiere.
They’ve survived a global pandemic, bounced back in the face of an economic downturn, and found new inspiration to innovate in a decade that’s changed the way we live, learn, work and think.
Steps taken by these starters in the present day are sure to shape Kansas City’s tomorrow.
The path they walk isn’t new, but their approach promises a new course as they seek to build companies that meet the needs of an evolving community, strengthen the perception of the Plains and Midwest, attract capital at record rates and bring world class talent to the metro.
Choosing only 10 companies to highlight has never been more challenging. In fact, it’s our opinion that Kansas City entrepreneurs have never shown more hunger, making competition for the 2021 list the strongest to date. The final result isn’t a declaration of the best of the best. The Startups to Watch list is intended to spotlight companies the Startland News editorial team believes are among those best positioned to make headlines in the year ahead. The ranking, like the list itself, is subjective.
To those companies left unrecognized — we see you. Startland News maintains its mission to elevate all entrepreneurs through its non-profit news coverage, and you’ll be hearing from our reporters in the days, weeks and months ahead. We remain committed to reporting your stories as they unfold.
Email news@startlandnews.com to submit your tips directly to the Startland News assignment desk.
The 2021 Startups to Watch list was compiled through more than 70 hours of research and countless (virtual) conversations with community experts, funders and support organizations.
Ultimately, curation of the list relied on the honesty, openness and track record of founders.
The Startland News editorial team culled 50-plus semi-finalists from more than 200 nominations and newsroom-generated leads, narrowed that list to 30, and finally to the selected Startups to Watch class of 2021. This highly competitive process has assured us 2021 will be an impressive year of rebuilding with no shortage of progress in Kansas City’s bid to become the most entrepreneurial community in America.
The Kansas City Startups Watch in 2021 list is made possible by presenting sponsors Husch Blackwell and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, though independently produced by Startland News.
Click here to check out Startland News’ 2020 list, or look back at our original predictions in 2016, 2017, 2018 and 2019.
Founders: Riddhiman Das, Greg Storm
Founding year: 2019
Amount raised to date: Undisclosed
Noteworthy investors: Flyover Capital, KCRise Fund, Accenture Ventures, Purpose Built Ventures, Practical Venture Capital
Programs completed: Digital Sandbox KC
Current employee count: 16
Click here for a full profile on TripleBlind.
Riddhiman Das, TripleBlind
Founders: Ben Schultz, Hunter Browning
Founding year: 2015
Amount raised to date: $7.05M
Noteworthy investors: Five Elms Capital, Perceptive Equity
Programs completed: Pipeline Entrepreneurs, LaunchKC
Current Employee Count: 30
Click here for a full profile on LaborChart.
Hunter Browning and Ben Schultz, LaborChart
Founders: Leib Dodell, David Hensley
Founding year: 2016
Amount raised to date: $2M
Noteworthy investors: Purina
Programs completed: Pet Care Innovation Network | Powered by Purina
Current employee count: 80 (25 full-time, 55 part-time)
Click here for a full profile on Bar K.
David Hensley and Leib Dodell, Bar K
Founders: A.J. Mellott, Heather Decker
Founding year: 2019
Amount raised to date: $1.3M
Noteworthy investors: Undisclosed
Programs completed: NIGMS Sustainable Heartland Accelerator Regional Partnership Hub, Wichita State University Shockers Innovation Corps, UMKC E-Scholars, Digital Sandbox KC, Pipeline Entrepreneurs
Current employee count: 3 (2 FTE, and 1 part-time)
Click here for a full profile on Ronawk.
A.J. Mellott and Heather Decker, Ronawk
Founders: Dr. Shelley Cooper, Dr. Moe Hamid
Founding year: 2019
Amount raised to date: $60,500
Noteworthy investors: Digital Sandbox KC
Current employee count: 2
Click here for a full profile on SureShow.
Dr. Shelley Cooper, SureShow by Diversity Telehealth
Founders: John Bertrand, Ryan Rosenbaum
Founding year: 2017
Amount raised to date: $1.7M
Noteworthy investors: KCRise Fund, Techstars
Programs completed: Techstars 2018
Current employee count: 25
Click here for a full profile on Daupler.
John Bertrand, Daupler
Founders: Nomi Smith, Luke Landau
Founding year: 2019
Amount raised to date: $325,000
Noteworthy investors: Undisclosed
Programs completed: Pure Pitch Rally, Digital Sandbox KC
Current employee count: 7
Click here for a full profile on PMI Rate Pro.
Nomi Smith and Luke Landau, PMI Rate Pro
Founders: Sean Finley, Erik Anderson, Tanner Wiles
Founding year: 2015
Amount raised to date: Bootstrapped
Noteworthy investors: N/A
Current employee count: 6
Click here for a full profile on Scissors & Scotch.
Sean Finley, Tanner Wiles and Erik Anderson, Scissors & Scotch
Founders: Nick Bowden, Alexei Pozdnukhov, Brett Naul, Kael Greco
Founding year: 2019
Amount raised to date: $11M
Noteworthy investors: Innovation Endeavors, Firebrand, Rise of the Rest
Current employee count: 41
Click here for a full profile on Replica.
Nick Bowden, Replica
Founders: Jannae Gammage, Milad Ghasempour
Founding year: Late 2019
Amount raised to date: Bootstrapped
Noteworthy investors: N/A
Programs completed: Digital Sandbox KC
Current employee count: 5 employees, 13 contractors
Click here for a full profile on The Market Base.
Milad Ghasempour and Jannae Gammage, The Market Base
Check out previous lists of Kansas City Startups to Watch
Featured Business
2021 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Digital Health KC debuts Lumi Awards with star-powered roster of tech honorees
Healthcare is a team sport and Kansas City has all the players, said Dick Flanigan, heaping praise on the region’s innovators at the intersection of healthcare and technology. “We have key entries in every sector, allowing us to tap into these companies and individuals to truly form a winning team,” said Flanigan, president of Digital…
Shoppers lined the block to visit their vintage clothing store; now they’ve curated a new, larger space in KC’s West Bottoms
As brothers Thomas and Reade Rex open the doors to their relocated and expanded vintage clothing store this weekend in Kansas City’s West Bottoms, the event will be a culmination of years of hard work, passion, and a shared vision — plus significant customer support and loyalty, they said. “We’ve always done things together,” said…
World Cup will be KC’s biggest-ever event, top founder says (and local businesses can still get in the game)
When Neal Sharma co-founded DEG at the turn of the millennium, Kansas City felt like it had an inferiority complex, he said. Fast forward to 2024, and the city is teeming with extrinsic validation, he added. The exited founder-turned-civic leader hopes being a World Cup host city in 2026 pushes Kansas City to take a…
ProX names equity-centered leader as first executive director of its popular student intern program
The new leader of ProX — one of the largest paid internship programs in the country — is expected to be instrumental in taking the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation affiliate to the next level, said Dr. Bill Nicely. ProX and the Kauffman Foundation on Thursday announced the appointment of Solissa Franco-McKay — a longtime supporter…