Hunting unicorns: C2FO spotlighted as startup likely to reach $1B valuation

Leawood-based C2FO is among the nation’s highest-momentum startups, according to CB Insights and The New York Times, which teamed up to name 50 “future unicorns.”

The U.S. companies on the list — which analysts involved predict will eventually be valued at $1 billion or more — largely are based on the coasts. Twenty-two are in California, five in New York, and two in Massachusetts.

C2FO, a Kansas financial tech firm led by serial entrepreneur Sandy Kemper, is a notable exception.

The startup landed in the No. 1 slot on Startland’s list of Top Venture Capital-Backed Companies in 2018, as well as being named one of the publication’s Startups to Watch lists in 2016 and 2017.

C2FO has a total disclosed funding of about $200 million, having raised a $100 million round for global expansion in early 2018.

The median company on the CB Insights-New York Times list has $111.4M in total funding and has raised a Series C.

To identify companies, CB Insights and the New York Times analyzed companies’ financial health, traction, and strength of market.

The same approach was used for the 2015 version of the list, with 48 percent of the predictions resulting in unicorns, according to CB Insights.

Sandy and Christine Kemper — who together founded C2FO — were honored in 2017 as Regional Entrepreneurs of the Year by the University of Missouri Kansas City’s Henry W. Bloch School of Management.