Digital Sandbox KC secures $450K to support startups’ prototyping, proof-of-concept needs
February 8, 2024 | Tommy Felts
As Digital Sandbox KC marks its 10th year in 2024, the popular funding program — and a key marker of emerging success for young tech startups in Kansas City — has earned a new round of financial backing from the State of Missouri.
Spread over three years, a $450,000 MOBEC (Missouri Building Entrepreneurial Capacity) project grant is expected to support prototyping and proof-of-concept needs of early-stage tech founders, said Jill Meyer, senior director of Technology Venture Studio, which houses Digital Sandbox KC within the UMKC Innovation Center.
“This award mirrors the sustained success of Digital Sandbox KC in offering essential proof-of-concept funding, aiding technology founders in developing viable innovations poised for subsequent financial support,” said Meyer.
MOBEC grant funding via the Missouri Technology Corporation is expected to be used to support the UMKC Digital Sandbox model, which helps technology founders in creating early-stage prototypes, according to MTC.
This support is crucial in overcoming the challenge of proving the concept in its early stages, leading to further investment in the company and advancement of its core idea, regardless of whether it is selected for proof-of-concept support, MTC said.
Digital Sandbox KC funding recipients; photo courtesy of Technology Venture Studio, UMKC Innovation Center
Digital Sandbox KC offers selected companies up to $20,000 each and critical resource and mentorship support. Startups are chosen quarterly with the most recently picked companies announced in January.
ICYMI: Meet nine innovative startups earning critical early funding from Digital Sandbox KC
“We are excited to have secured this funding as a vital component of our ongoing fundraising initiatives,” said Meyer. “Digital Sandbox KC is fueled by a diverse group of supporters, enabling us to persist in expediting innovations toward market. Missouri Technology Corporation has been a strategic and critical partner of this program since its original launch.”
Jill Meyer, UMKC’s Innovation Center’s Technology Venture Studio, speaks to a crowd gathered for a “Resources for Your Startup” panel during Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2024 seminar and reception event; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News
The $450,000 grant award for Digital Sandbox KC is part of more than $3 million in MOBEC funding announced this week by MTC, including funds slated for Digital Health KC, an initiative launched by Bionexus KC, and LaunchKC, a program operated by the Economic Development Council of Kansas City, Missouri, (EDCKC) and the Downtown Council.
Five other Missouri organizations — 39 North AgTech Innovation District (St. Louis); Missouri Innovation Center (Columbia); Codefi Foundation on Rural Innovation (Cape Girardeau); Cortex (St. Louis); Missouri State University’s efactory (Springfield) — also received grants through this week’s funding tranche.
MTC additionally this week announced equity investments in seven Missouri startups through its IDEA Fund, including funds for a trio of Kansas City companies: backstitch, Foresight, and Likarda.
Featured Business
2024 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Former ECJC exec Melissa Roberts joins Kauffman Foundation grant making team
Everyone has potential if given the right resources, said Melissa Roberts. “Everybody has great ideas if given the right education. Everybody has the potential to be an economic contributor in our society if given the right motivation and support,” she continued. These aren’t her words and values alone, Roberts said. They’re the legacy of Ewing…
Health scare forced KC’s colorful wax guru to get serious: ‘This is Crumble growing up with me’
Brandon Love is keeping his iconic, brightly-colored hair, but melting away distractions that could be holding back his already wildly successful, but evolving lifestyle brand, Crumble Co., he said. The first to go: Some of the eye-catching candle and wax product names that first caught customers’ attention because of their tongue-in-cheek innuendos and four-letter words,…
Insecure phones, devices creating largest-ever sensor grid (for China) in US homes, says Pepper cyber security report
As an industry, the state of cyber security is a “hot mess,” Scott Ford said candidly. “Frankly, its at a point where it ought to be concerning to everybody,” Ford, CEO of Pepper IoT, said in response to a new report that examines the state of the IoT space and released as part of a…
Missouri Hyperloop talk turns to motion sickness, comfort at high-speeds
But how will it feel? With the feasibility of a high-speed Missouri Hyperloop route connecting Kansas City to St. Louis in about 30 minutes now established, the conversation has shifted tracks to ergonomics, said Diana Zhou. Curious members of the public want to know more about the safety of the proposed transportation mode’s 600-plus-mph speeds,…