Funding

Kansas city startup funding

Most-funded tech startups: $100M-plus investment puts PayIt on the map with C2FO

By Tommy Felts / April 19, 2019

Companies in the Midwest and South are making major plays for investment dollars, according to CB Insights, with Kansas City’s PayIt and C2FO earning spots on the latest map of the nation’s most well-funded tech startups. “The tech boom has diffused beyond the traditional hotbeds of California, New York, and Massachusetts, across the entire United…

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BacklotCars parks another $25 million in Series B round led by NY-based investor

By Tommy Felts / April 15, 2019

KC-fueled BacklotCars will further its mission to disrupt the wholesale automotive space, thanks to the close of a $25 million Series B funding round, the company announced Monday. Led by New York-based growth equity firm, Stripes, the round brings BacklotCars — which seeks to ease pain points for automotive wholesalers — to $38 million in…

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LaunchKC accelerator

New industry-specific LaunchKC accelerators expected to bring more dollars, winners

By Tommy Felts / April 8, 2019

Applications for this year’s LaunchKC program are going vertical, said Drew Solomon, announcing plans for three industry-specific accelerators — two of which will launch new funding-rich demo days in the fall. “We’ve always wanted to grow and expand not only the competition, but the program as a whole,” said Solomon, chair of the LaunchKC program.…

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We Create KC report: Half of top VC-backed companies tapped early-stage support

By Tommy Felts / April 5, 2019

In 2018, 50 percent of the top venture capital-funded companies in Kansas City got their start with early-stage investment programs that emerged after 2012, according to We Create KC 2019, KCSourceLink’s sixth annual state of entrepreneurship report. “That high percentage shows us how important these early-stage investment programs are to our entrepreneurs and our ecosystem,”…

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Brendan Reilly, Dan Scott and Richard Neal, Lelex Prime

Time to see green: 3 startups spring into Digital Sandbox KC proof-of-concept program

By Tommy Felts / April 4, 2019

The path from concept to commercialization has three reinvigorated travelers this spring, Jeff Shackelford said Thursday, announcing the latest early-stage entrepreneurs to join Digital Sandbox KC. The program’s newly joined startups include a tech-driven legal solution and two companies using artificial intelligence to innovate their industries, said Shackelford, executive director of Digital Sandbox KC. “As…

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