MTC grant puts ‘cherry on top’ for KC startup closing its seed round; two more local companies earn MO funding

A trio of Kansas City tech startups are among seven Missouri companies splitting $2.2 million in equity-based investments from the State of Missouri — a funding milestone that not only reflects momentum, but amplifies it, one grant-winning founder said.

The Missouri Technology Corporation on Tuesday announced the awards from its IDEA Fund, with investments slated for Kansas City-based backstitch, Foresight, and Likarda. Grant totals from MTC were not publicly disclosed.

MTC funding for Foresight — a fintech startup that uses generative AI to fuel small business lending — is a crucial component of closing the company’s $2 million seed round, said Jannae Gammage, co-founder of Foresight.

She called MTC’s grant “the cherry on top” of a mountain of recent accomplishments for the venture.

“It’s a testament to the incredible momentum Foresight has built over the past 90 days,” Gammage said. “Being selected to pitch at SXSW, one of the largest and most prestigious global stages, winning a $100,000 pitch competition, which catalyzed an additional $250,000 investment, alongside a $50,000 grant from LaunchKC, has been instrumental in fueling our progress.”

RELATED: LaunchKC awards $300K: Six new startups enter the winners’ circle with KC investments

“These achievements collectively underscore the traction we’re gaining, the confidence the community and investors have in us, and the impact of our work,” Gammage added.

Stephanie Warzecha and Jordan Warzecha, backstitch; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

Lisa Stehno-Bittel and Karthik Ramachandran, Likarda; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

Kansas City companies earning grants in the just-announced MTC funding cycle:

• Backstitch (Jordan Warzecha, Stefanie Warzecha) — A complete Employee Experience and Total Rewards Engagement Platform, purpose built for busy HR and IC teams. The platform increases productivity, reaches all employees, and accurately measure outcomes with marketing tools designed for workforce communications.

• Foresight (Jannae Gammage, Alaia Martin) — Specializes in delivering turnkey lending and credit solutions by integrating cutting-edge technology and decision science tailored to fintechs, lenders, and SaaS companies so that they can deploy capital to those that need it, when they need it.

• Likarda (Lisa Stehno-Bittel, Karthik Ramachandran) — A biotech company developing enabling technologies to transform how cell therapies are delivered and optimized, protecting cells from destruction and keeping them viable while maintaining them in the intended location within the body.

MTC also awarded funding through the IDEA Fund to Missouri-based Azome Therapeutics (St. Louis); Barbell Logic (Springfield); BIOIO (St. Louis); and King of the Curve (St. Louis).

MTC also this week announced funding awards through its MOBEC (Missouri Building Entrepreneurial Capacity) project grant program, including funds slated for Digital Sandbox KC at the UMKC Innovation Center; LaunchKC, a program operated by the Economic Development Council of Kansas City, Missouri, (EDCKC) and the Downtown Council; and Digital Health KC, an initiative launched by Bionexus KC.

RELATED: Nearly $500K in renewed MTC funding for LaunchKC expected to empower early-stage tech startups for years

RELATED: Digital Health KC awarded $311K grant with goal to add 70+ jobs, $6M+ in wages across region

With the boost from MTC’s IDEA Fund and the close of its seed round, Foresight is able to re-construct its core team and bring on an additional 10 employees from engineers to operations personnel, Gammage said.

“We’ve recently added the co-founder moniker to Alaia Martin (COO of Foresight and the startup’s first employee/investor) and we’re really excited about how she’ll grow Foresight with a little more power,” Gammage said.

“Our goal is to facilitate $100 million with our lending partners this year and we want a large chunk of that being injected right here in our backyard,” she continued. “It’s important to know that our own funding and growing network is actually here as well.”

Tuesday’s funding announcement was MTC’s first tranche of investments for the year. In 2023, MTC awarded more than $9 million in investment allocations through the IDEA Fund to 32 Missouri-based high-growth potential startups.

MTC awarded the following in each 2023 award cycle:

• More than $2 million in January to eight tech startups
• More than $2.3 million in April to seven tech startups
• More than $2.4 million in July to eight tech startups
• More than $2.4 million in October to nine tech startups

MTC currently accepts IDEA Fund applications continuously and reviews applications and makes awards on a quarterly basis.

Deadlines for full consideration for each quarterly application review cycle are:

• 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, Feb. 7 (April 2024 award cycle)
• 11:59 p.m., Wednesday, May 8 (July 2024 award cycle)

Click here to learn more about funding through MTC’s IDEA Fund programs.