10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023
December 14, 2022 | Tommy Felts and Austin Barnes
A new startup community has emerged in a post-pandemic world — and 10 scaling players are on the front lines, ready to redefine what startup success looks like in the Heartland.
The newsmakers featured in Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023 list are no strangers to our readers or their fellow entrepreneurs. Not only are they improving broken industries — they’re creating new ones altogether, blazing (up) trails, unlocking next-level potential, and stitching success that promises to drive the local economy for decades to come.
These companies range from healthtech and sales platforms to scaling apparel brands to Esports and NFT startups and even the list’s first-ever founder featured on two Startups to Watch roundups — with different ventures.
Startland News’ annual showcase of innovation is back — and you’re invited.
Join the publication’s editors, reporters, and founders from the 10 Kansas City Startups to Watch companies for an afternoon networking session and open house in recognition of the collective accomplishments of their companies.
Click here for tickets to the Jan. 24 event.
In the wake of the COVID-era, all bets are off. And these companies are eager to prove the next great American startup will be built by starters settling the silicon prairie.
Narrowing the list down to just 10 companies is nearly impossible — even after eight years of following startup newsmakers. The talent and tenacity of Kansas City’s startup scene is fierce. The final result is but a small reflection of the entrepreneurial energy that’s building throughout the city and is intended to highlight the companies Startland News’ editorial team believes hold serious newsmaking potential in the year ahead.
Let us be clear: there’s no contest between companies — and no “top startup” to declare better than the rest. The list exists to amplify cutting-edge innovation and unlock new opportunities for some of the city’s fastest growing startups that might otherwise go unnoticed.
The 2023 list was compiled through more than six months of research and recurring conversations with community experts, funders and support organizations. Ultimately, curation of the list relied heavily on the honesty, openness and track record of founders.
The Startland News editorial team culled 35 semi-finalists from nearly 300 nominations and newsroom-generated leads, narrowed that list to 25, and finally to the 10 selected Startups to Watch class of 2023 — a cohort of founders so eager and well-poised for success, we’re confident they’ll dominate the conversation within the tech and innovation space in the months ahead.
Navigate through the photo carousel below to see the 10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023.
Click here to check out Startland News’ 2022 list, or look back at our original predictions in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020, and 2021.
Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2023
[slide-anything id=”691097″]
Startups to Watch presented in partnership with Social Apex, supported by the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, and independently produced by Startland News.
Social Apex connects you to the modern consumer.
As a digital marketing agency based in Kansas City, Missouri, we create customized marketing experiences to better connect to your customer.
Social Apex works with you hands on with strategic consulting and content geared to drive results and help reach long-term growth.
The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.
For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn
Featured Business
2022 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Just funded: Meet the five latest startups scaling their tech, Digital Sandbox KC’s impact
Five emerging startups are the latest to benefit from Digital Sandbox KC’s support — investment and resources that have led to more than $200 million in follow-on funding in less than 10 years for Sandbox companies. “Without this funding, it would have taken us much longer, as the whole project is currently being bootstrapped,” said…
Developers’ plan for massive West Bottoms investment stirs fear in some neighbors
Editor’s note: The following story was originally published by CityScene KC, an online news source focused on Greater Downtown Kansas City. Click here to read the original story or here to sign up for the weekly CityScene KC email review. SomeraRoad’s ambitious proposal to transform a sleepy section of the West Bottoms into a “dynamic” mixed-use district has strong…
How a historic Roman Catholic private school became ‘the queerest hotel in Kansas’
With its claim to fame as the first incorporated city in Kansas, Leavenworth is a hidden treasure of historical sites, said Ilan Salzberg, but its significance does not end within its past, as the vibrant town has still so much to offer. “Leavenworth is a really cool town that I think commonly gets overlooked. People…
Give yourself permission to pause the hustle; injury prompts serial entrepreneur to get grounded
Trauma from a brain injury after an auto accident last fall left Joy Broils downshifting her Type A personality and ambitious drive to a few hours of work each day, the entrepreneur said. The incident, however, prompted her to slow down and focus on a new startup idea: Hustle & Ground, a monthly subscription box…