Startups
Coffee for the culture: Porter House KC founders partner with Messenger to craft Black-owned coffee brand
Black Drip Coffee brewed from within a desire to bring coffee culture to historically disenfranchised and underserved communities, said Charon Thompson and Daniel Smith. “It’s more than coffee,” noted Smith, who co-founded the brand, Black Drip Coffee, as well as the Porter House KC with Thompson. “We always talk about breaking down barriers and creating…
Founded to sell: Emerging KC tech firm led by startup veterans announces $725K funding round
A Kansas City startup’s initial funding round is expected to help small businesses close more deals, faster, said Scott Hansen. LeadSigma, a powerful and easy-to-use sales engagement platform, has raised a $725,000 family and friends round, Hansen, co-founder of LeadSigma, announced Friday. The round included prominent opinion leaders and agency owners in targeted SMB verticals,…
KCK couple fuels road adventures as camper van rentals speed up, interest in RV life surges
Adventurers Spencer and Sarah Martin dreamed of owning a camper van for several years, they shared, but expenses and full-time jobs came as roadblocks. “I’m a science educator, and she’s a school nurse,” noted Spencer Martin. “Camper vans are expensive and then sit unused for a majority of the year, so it had always been…
$12M capital infusion pumps Prairie Village-based Artio Medical to $46M in funding
A Johnson County medical device company announced Thursday the closing of an additional $12 million tranche of Series A financing — advancing the startup’s tech toward clinical study and commercialization with the backing of a leading Kansas City real estate developer. “We are thrilled to close this round of financing with strong support from existing investors…
US Air Force contracts Healium for ‘drugless’ therapy amid military suicide epidemic
As suicide rates among U.S. military service members continue to rise, Columbia-based Healium is doubling down on its mission to make mental fitness tools more accessible. “It’s an honor to serve these service members and their families who’ve sacrificed in ways we cannot imagine,” Sarah Hill, founder and CEO, told Startland News in announcing a…
