Latest Digital Sandbox startups: Connecting solutions on climate change, supply chain, child therapy and voter education 

Four new companies welcomed this week into the fold at Digital Sandbox KC help showcase the ongoing success of the 6-year-old proof-of-concept program, said Jeff Shackelford.

“We’ve now provided project development funding for 118 area startups, and this group has raised over $70 million in add-on investment and created nearly 700 new area jobs,” said Shackelford, executive director of Digital Sandbox KC. “I’m not sure anyone would have predicted that kind of overwhelming success. The Sandbox continues to fuel the region’s early-stage entrepreneurs.”

The second quarter 2019 additions to Digital Sandbox include a SaaS platform geared toward corporate accountability on climate change; a digital supply chain connector led by a startup veteran; a tech solution aimed at better outcomes for children with developmental disabilities; and an online portal to help all voters know who is on their personal voting ballot before they arrive to vote (supported thround Digital Sandbox’s partnership with the City of Olathe.

“While the funding is critical to the launch of Selectn’Elect portal, the Sandbox evaluating team are the secret sauce of this phenomenally successful program,” said Mo Azeem, founder and president of Selectn’Elect, the Olathe-based voting solution. “Selectn’Elect has tremendously benefited from the invaluable suggestions and vital feedback of this team and is looking forward to leveraging their expertise in future.”

“Once again … [these] companies reflect the great diversity of applicants we see in the Sandbox,” Shackelford added.

Click here to learn more about the first quarter Digital Sandbox selections.

Digital Sandbox significantly and rapidly moves early-stage entrepreneurs from concept to commercialization, according to the program. It is a unique collaboration among private, public, university/research and philanthropic organizations, Shackelford said.

The latest companies selected:

• Dynamhex Technologies is an enterprise SaaS platform and forecasting tool that facilitates collaborative environmental actions between businesses and governments. Customers use advanced analytics and machine learning to manage energy consumption and implement climate action plans with solutions at various geo-spatial resolutions. By linking timely, standardized and localized data, Dynamhex helps customers meet their city directives and corporate climate pledges in a more transparent, tangible and cost-effective manner.

Dynamhex plans to use the Sandbox project financing for leveraging intellectual property to quickly scale the services to change makers in cities and corporations for a timely fight against climate change, said Dr. Sunny Sanwar, founder of Dynamhex.

“This grant helps us extend our proprietary optimization engine and enterprise services to the civic and corporate leadership who can now make data-driven decisions,” said Sanwar, who also is on this year’s 30 under 30 list in Energy by Forbes Magazine. “Sandbox is helping Dynamhex expedite the speed to market, so cities where the products have been demoed, like Kansas City and Washington, D.C., can prioritize and implement energy strategies by visualizing and modeling climate action plans.”

• Relay Trade Solutions connects shippers, carriers, origins and destinations of bulk commodity shipments for seamless order to settlement and faster payment.

“Digital Sandbox KC will not only provide the validation for future investment, but more importantly, the funds will be a catalyst for tech development that further validates our solution with customers,” said Delvin Higginson, founder of Relay Trade Solutions, and formerly of TradeLanes. “Kansas City is an ideal place for a startup that connects and serves our customer base of companies buying, selling and moving the bulk raw products that are fundamental to our local and world economy.”

• TheraWe Connect is a HIPPA-compliant platform designed to improve therapy outcomes for children with special needs. TheraWe Connect bridges the gap between the therapy center and the home, improving communication and parent education, through video messaging and document sharing.  

“We are going to change the way parents succeed in navigating pediatric therapy,” said Kaitlin Doyle, co-founder of TheraWe Connect. “The funding from the Sandbox will allow us to implement the learnings from our first customers to better reduce stress for families and bring more efficiency to therapy providers. We are excited to keep growing.”

TheraWe Connect also was one of the big winners at the Pure Pitch Rally in October, with co-founder Kirby Montgomery earning $7,000 for the startup in the fast-paced competition.

• Selectn’Elect, the Olathe Sandbox selection, enhances civic engagement by enabling a voter to make educated and efficient decisions in local, state and national elections. The web portal also serves as the platform for candidates, voters, political parties, organizations and vendors to interact and conduct business.

“It’s an honor to be selected by Digital Sandbox KC,” said Azeem.