11 emerging KC startups hit the road for Omaha pitch; one winner drives home with $25K

Editor’s note: Husch Blackwell is a financial sponsor of Startland News, though this report was produced independently by the nonprofit newsroom.

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More than a third of competitors at the coming Get Started Omaha premier pitch event are expected to represent Kansas City innovation on stage April 6 — vying for $25,000 in prize money against other seed-stage companies hailing from Delaware to Texas.

Jenny Miller, Husch Blackwell

“Get Started Omaha is an opportunity for executives and investors to get an up-close look at 30 startups that have gained traction in the market,” said Jenny Miller, Husch Blackwell’s Startup Community Program Lead. “We are excited for the future of these companies and are pleased that Get Started Omaha can help each potentially grow.”

The pitch competition began in 2014 with Husch Blackwell, a law firm with significant Kansas City offices, now serving as the organizing sponsor. The free event is open to the public both virtually and in-person, though registration is required.

Click here to RSVP for Get Started Omaha, 1:30 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. April 6.

The 30 competing startups — nearly half of which are from the Omaha and Lincoln metros — each have raised less than $1 million in funding and represent five industry tracks that include healthcare and education; manufacturing, transportation and logistics; food and agriculture; energy, natural resources and real estate; and technology and financial services.

Six companies (the winners of each industry track and People’s Choice Award winner) will pitch for a grand prize to be awarded live during the event based on scores from a panel of venture capital judges.

Startups participating in the event include:

• Air Traffic Awareness, Kansas City — Provides an in-flight streamlined user-interface for pilots to prevent any risk of collision — all without wifi, radar, or expensive equipment.
• AuditMiner, Omaha — Allows the Employee Benefit Plan (EBP) auditor to log-in and download standardized EBP reports for use during their audit fieldwork, no matter where the retirement plan assets are located. This tool both streamlines and standardizes the reporting process required in an EBP audit.
• AZELLA, Kansas City — Offers the support firms and independent advisors need with customized solutions geared towards growing and optimizing their business. (Click here to read recent reporting about AZELLA from Startland News.)
• Citrus Innovations, Milwaukee — Provides a web application, which facilitates a hyperlocal economy for apartment renters, landlords and local businesses.
• Corral Technologies, Lincoln — Gives ranchers the ability to track, move, and confine their cattle with the touch of a button. Its collar and tag system will help ranchers become more profitable while saving time, materials, and money.
• DataSource, Kansas City — Bridges the gap between small and large companies with tools that allow all companies to use data to grow sales and increase efficiency. (Click here to read a recent profile on DataSource from Startland News.)
• Diversity Telehealth, Kansas City — Uses telecommunications technologies to deliver, support, promote, and enhance long-distance clinical health care and health education.  (Click here to read more about Diversity Telehealth’s founder from Startland News.)
• Event Vesta, Omaha — An event platform with the tools event creators and promoters need to create amazing events and the personalized recommendations and frictionless sign-up that event seekers crave.
• Flipstik, St. Louis — Shark Tank-backed creator of a reusable, kickstand, wall mount, selfie stick, and gravity-defying accessory for mobile phones.
• Hellcat Technologies, Tabor, Iowa — Developing software solutions that will empower small and large businesses in skilled trade industries. Its  platform boosts efficiencies, increase capacity, keep everyone connected, and will save companies time and money.
• HerHeadquarters, Omaha — Go-to app for women-owned businesses seeking curated and mutually beneficial brand partnerships. Its users are decision-makers and rising stars seeking smart partnerships with other female-founded brands.
• Impower Health, Omaha — Maker of the world’s first biomechanics-based self-pacing treadmill. It relies on a coordinated sensor system and sophisticated algorithm to detect the user’s center of mass and leg swing velocity to sense the user’s position and adjust the treadmill speed accordingly.
• inventXYZ, Kansas City — Integrating hands-on real-world STEM and CS into every core high school course. (Click here to read a recent profile on inventXYZ from Startland News.)
• Job Share Connect, Omaha — Creates mutually beneficial job share opportunities that promote work-life integration and help companies hire and retain top talent for the multi-generational workplace of the future.
• Karyosoft, Carmel, Indiana — Offers an in-house genomics data management and analytics platforms empower non-programming life scientists to effectively manage, democratize and quickly transform the vast of genomics data into meaningful insights within their secured on-premises or cloud environment and free up bioinformaticians’ time.
• LeashTech (Leash Pet Transportation), Omaha — A pet transportation network connecting pet businesses, pet owners and drivers. Leash provides pet businesses with an add-on ride pick-up and drop-off service they can provide to their customers when booking appointments for grooming, daycare, boarding or veterinary service.
• Love Lifesciences, Overland Park — Developing a series of injection safety devices which will improve the patient experience when injection medications are required for care.
• MD MatchUp, Leawood — A consumer acquisition and patient retention online software product powered by a proprietary algorithm designed to match patients with providers based on healthcare and personality-related compatibility factors. It’s like a platonic dating site for patients and providers, with science playing the role of matchmaker.
• Nave Analytics, Omaha — Building a data coherence hub and delivery system powering versatile digital tools to support irrigation operations so that agronomists and turf managers can become more deliberate with their irrigation decisions.
• Nestimate, Lincoln
• Particle Space, Kansas City — Proptech-as-a-service platform built for speed, flexibility, scale, and success. One of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022.  (Click here to read recent reporting about Particle Space from Startland News.)
• SALUBATA, New Castle, Delaware — Inventors of lifestyle technologies that help people and the planet.
• SaRA Health, Kansas City — Helping providers prevent injuries for our most at-risk populations like first responders, nurses, and senior citizens.
• SeeInMe, Kansas City — Enables family members to share a “personality profile” for loved ones ranging from preverbal infants to those with special needs to elderly victims of stroke and dementia, thus enabling truly person-centered care across numerous settings.
• Sentinel Fertigation, Lincoln — Leverages digital technology to turn imagery of the crop canopy into nitrogen fertilizer application timing recommendations for fertigated production systems.
• SpenDebt, Houston — Helps people pay off debt one micropayment at a time.
• Swishboom, Omaha — Helps families schedule their babysitters and grow their sitter network, while making babysitter jobs easy to claim.
• Tiiga, Lincoln — Creating plant-based products centered around the Baobab fruit promoting a healthy microbiome and improved overall health. Prebiotic electrolyte drink mix for easily digested hydration.
• Unravl Hair, Austin — Black woman-owned robotics startup inspiring innovation for natural hair care.
• Veeper, Kansas City — Tracks customers’ shopping habits to apply the optimum discount that gets them to buy more. Veeper’s mission is to make the internet free of universal promo codes. (Click here to read recent reporting about Veeper from Startland News.)

Entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, business executives and community members are invited to the event for an opportunity to network and build relationships while learning about innovative startups and breakthrough technologies, according to organizers.

Competition judges are set to include: Adriana Cisneros Basulto, founder and CEO of Maxwell (former Get Started Omaha winner); Liam Reilly, senior associate at the KCRise Fund (former Husch Blackwell attorney); and Nathan Preheim, general partner at Proven Ventures.

Click here to learn more about Get Started Omaha.