It’ll be a year for entrepreneurs on a mission.

Many of the startups poised to make eye-catching headlines in 2025 also are working toward a better future — for the earth, for mothers, for people who love their pets, for Kansas Citians who’ve embraced the city’s craft community, and even for sports enthusiasts honing their skills when the weather takes a turn.

Today Startland News is showcasing 10 emerging companies that editors believe will be among the most newsworthy in the coming months. It’s our 10th year making this list, and Kansas City entrepreneurs are showing no signs of slowing down.

From rapid advancements in cybersecurity access to early detection tech for combatting mental health struggles, the founders behind these startups are challenging old assumptions about the way the world works — and tilling the soil for a new era of solutions.

You can meet the 10 companies below (just click on the image of each startup’s founder or founders in the photo carousel to read a profile on what the entrepreneurs have in store for 2025), but first …

Taylor Wilmore, Startland News reporter, interviews one of the founders showcased on the Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2025 list; photo by Tommy Felts, Startland News

How’d we get here: Short answer: We had help. The Startland News editorial team explored about 60 nominations from trusted advisors, venture capital leaders, startup community champions, entrepreneur support organizations, serial entrepreneurs, top-level startup executives, and exited founders — then got to work narrowing about 40 semi-finalists to 15 finalists, then 12, and eventually the 10 companies you see highlighted today.

It’s a nearly three-month process built upon relationships with sources, newsroom-generated leads, and closely watching trendsetters emerge from initiatives like LaunchKC, Pure Pitch Rally, Digital Sandbox KC, Pipeline, NXTUS and other accelerators, incubators and programs.

What we consider: Likelihood of making news and a proven track record of open, honest communication from founders forms the foundation of a solid Startups to Watch entry. Specifically, editors look at startups’ runways for funding rounds, key hires, product launches, market expansions, scaling efforts and other novel activity coming in the next 12 months.

What it isn’t: As always, this isn’t a contest between companies; we aren’t presenting the entrepreneurs in a ranked order, and there’s no “top startup” to declare better than the rest. Frankly, many leading contenders who didn’t make the cut during our selection process could even make bigger, bolder headlines — but that’s not the point.

So what is the point: The 2025 Startups to Watch list exists to elevate remarkable entrepreneurs and unlock new opportunities for some of the city’s fastest growing startups. That’s our mission. This project represents the spectrum of entrepreneurial spirit coursing throughout the region — from Lawrence, Kansas, to rural Missouri — a teaser of what Startland News’ editorial team believes is to come in the year ahead. 

Navigate through the photo carousel below to meet the 10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2025. Click on each photo to read more.

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What’s next? Meet the startups in person: Startland News’ showcase of the 10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2025 continues with a premiere event Jan. 23 in Midtown Kansas City. Join the editors, founders and startup community for a day of entrepreneur resource programming, followed by a Startups to Watch reception at the Opus event space at Park 39.

Click here to register for the Jan. 23 Startups to Watch event.

This event is made possible by presenting sponsor Morgan Stanley and supported in part by the City of Kansas City, Missouri Neighborhood Tourist Development Fund, Husch Blackwell, and Tom’s Town.

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Click here to check out Startland News’ 2024 list, or look back at our original predictions in 2016, 2017,  2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and 2023.

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10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2025

• Good Oak scales social venture to boost biodiversity in farming,  herd ag industry toward change
• Hilltop Technologies targets cybersecurity for Main Street (with help from next-gen talent)
• Icorium matches a complex environmental threat with Kansas-powered innovation
• LPOXY Therapeutics punches back at gut infection (and a foe with a billion-year head start)
• Marma pushes women’s nutrition to the forefront, birthing resources on demand
• Noonan scores under par success with digital caddie as golf market earns deepage
• OLEO roasts plans for slow-drip craft retail concepts, starting with coffee (and soon a diner)
• Raise Health tasks AI tools with a multiplier mission — detecting mental health struggles early
• Scout charts early adoption with digital veterinary workflow platform, diagnosing industry burnout
• Trially combines founders’ lived experiences, AI to streamline critical stage of health care advancements