Funding

Jabbok Schlacks and Willy Schlacks, EquipmentShare

$230M funding round fuels EquipmentShare tech launch, national expansion plans

By Tommy Felts / July 17, 2021

Startland News’ Startup Road Trip series explores entrepreneurship taking root in rural America and Midwestern startup hubs outside the Kansas City metro. This series is possible thanks to the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, which leads a collaborative, nationwide effort to identify and remove large and small barriers to new business creation. A massive funding haul…

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David Biga, Particle Space

Proptech startup closes $636K pre-seed round, building on real estate product collabs

By Tommy Felts / July 13, 2021

More than a half-million dollars in pre-seed funding has a Kansas City-built proptech startup movin’ on up, bringing it a few floors closer to realizing its goal of becoming Stripe for the real estate industry.  “It feels so unreal,” David Biga, founder and CEO, told Startland News Monday in announcement of the startup’s newly-closed $636,000…

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Just funded: Meet the six young startups joining Digital Sandbox KC’s summer slate 

By Tommy Felts / July 12, 2021

A round of funding from Digital Sandbox KC comes at a critical time for Bryght Labs — and five other early stage companies — as the AI-enabled gaming startup advances hardware development for its wildly popular, high-tech chess board, said Elliot Wilder. “Hardware is hard enough — but 2021 has added some unique challenges,” said Wilder,…

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John Bertrand, Daupler; Startland News' Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2021

$4M investment powers Daupler hiring, expansion as startup scales into new verticals

By Tommy Felts / July 8, 2021

A newly announced funding round for Daupler positions one of Kansas City’s top startups as “well-resourced and hiring like crazy” amid expansion plans and rapid entry into new markets, said CEO John Bertrand. The $4 million investment — led by San Francisco-based Burnt Island Ventures with participation from Revolution Fund, Runway Venture Partners, Knoll Ventures, and…

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The Prospect KC rendering

$250K in matching funds brings Prospect Urban Eatery free culinary training closer to boil

By Tommy Felts / July 7, 2021

Editor’s note: The Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is a financial supporter of Startland News, though this story was produced independently by Startland News’ nonprofit newsroom. A quarter-million-dollar grant from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation is expected to push The Prospect KC into operational scale in the months ahead, said Chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant.  News of the…

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