Hometown scramble: Noonan collaboration with neighboring Garmin brings startup closer to tournament win
September 24, 2025 | Tommy Felts
Kansas City sports tech innovator Noonan’s latest big swing sees the startup paired with a major industry player whose homegrown headquarters exercises its domination in the wearables market from just a few miles down I-35 in Johnson County.
A golfer at GolfTRK uses Garmin’s Approach R50 device with integration to the Noonan mobile app; photo courtesy of Noonan
Lenexa-built Noonan on Tuesday announced a collaboration with Garmin, a powerhouse in GPS-enabled sports technology — currently ranked the No. 1 “best employer” in Kansas by Forbes with 5,000 workers at its Olathe operation.
The game-changing team-up gives Garmin Golf customers the ability to seamlessly sync their Garmin Approach R10 and Approach R50 launch monitor data into Noonan’s mobile app.
“By allowing third-party apps like Noonan to develop on top of this data set, Garmin customers will benefit from rapid innovation that otherwise would’t be possible,” said Matt Williams, co-founder and president of Noonan and its sister brand, GolfTRK (both part of Albatross Golf, a company transforming how golfers practice, play, and improve).
Integration into the Noonan mobile app leverages the Garmin Golf Premium API; image courtesy of Noonan
Powered by Scattershot AI, Noonan — one of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2025 — transforms practice data into real-time, on-course strategy, providing automatic club and aim recommendations based on a player’s unique shot patterns.
“We’ve built Noonan right here, and now we get to scale our vision alongside a global leader like Garmin who has always believed in supporting innovation in their own backyard,” Williams said.
The startup leader called the collaboration “Kansas City through and through.”
“What makes this newsworthy isn’t just the golf tech (though syncing Garmin’s launch monitor data into our app is a huge step),” Williams told Startland News. “It’s the story of a Kansas City startup teaming up with one of KC’s largest global brands. It shows how our ecosystem is starting to connect the dots — local entrepreneurs building new tech, and local giants opening the doors to take it worldwide.”
The integration leverages the Garmin Golf Premium API, which allows third-party applications to access golf performance metrics, including range sessions and on-course data, with user consent. With the Noonan collaboration, Garmin users no longer need to manually export CSV files — data flows directly into the startup’s app to deliver smarter strategy instantly.
Garmin agrees the Noonan pairing represents more than just a tech milestone for the sports tech innovators, said Susan Lyman, vice president of consumer sales and marketing for the industry leader; it underscores how enterprise companies and startups can score success together under par.
“Garmin is proud to support companies in our community and elsewhere who are pushing the boundaries of performance for our customers,” she said. “Working with Noonan is a natural fit for our Garmin Golf Premium API — it connects our world-class golf technology with a KC startup that could redefine course strategy for players everywhere.”
Featured Business
2025 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
BLK + BRWN debuts KC’s first smart bookstore with a twist: ‘I wanted to be as Black as possible’
Kansas City’s newest Black woman-owned, brick-and-mortar bookstore in Midtown has opened its doors, but customers shouldn’t judge the operation by its cover, owner Cori Smith said, revealing an additional first for the metro that has heads and pages turning. “There’s a technological aspect paired with each book,” explained Smith, owner of BLK + BRWN — Kansas…
Why KCRise Fund chose a Lee’s Summit-built criminal justice smartphone app for its first lead investment
A Kansas City startup’s smartphone-enabled alternative to ankle monitors taps into a huge courts and corrections market — with the potential for tremendous cost savings and societal impact, said Darcy Howe. And that docket of benefits presents a unique opportunity for KCRise Fund, which this week announced its lead investment in Lee’s Summit-based eHawk, added…
ParentSquare notches growth investment, fueled by KC startup acquisition, pandemic trends
A significant growth investment is expected to help push edtech platform ParentSquare’s expansion into new markets and products — nearly 18 months after the Santa Barbara company announced the acquisition of a Kansas City startup’s school communication app. The undisclosed investment by Serent Capital also follows ParentSquare’s successful navigation of pandemic-era communication needs between parents…
UpDown Nightlife caps $500K seed round with party bus partnership; app to launch this month
Building an app centered on nightlife and in-person entertainment during a pandemic requires intense focus and intentionality every step of the way, Joshua Lewis said. “It’s been a slow and steady walk to the app launch,” said the founder of UpDown Nightlife — an app that connects consumers to local bars, clubs and entertainment. “With…