Eight emerging startups set to take the Pure Pitch Rally stage next month will become part of the Kansas City tech community’s evolving story, said Karen Fenaroli, touting a decade of impact that has seen millions in follow-on capital raised and thousands of jobs created across the region.
Karen Fenaroli, founder of the Pure Pitch Rally, addresses the 2024 crowd; photo by Taylor Wilmore, Startland News
“It is no longer just an event,” said Fenaroli, founder of Pure Pitch Rally and presenting sponsor Fenaroli & Associates. “It is part of the fabric and entrepreneurial education platforms of Kansas City. And this year, more than any before, our startups represent a remarkable spectrum of technology sectors, proof of just how diverse, daring and dynamic our region’s innovation pipeline has become.”
The Pure Pitch Rally returns Oct. 27 at Nelson-Atkins Auditorium and Kirkwood Hall, 4525 Oak St, with eight featured startup founders pitching to a room of 100-plus business leaders, angel investors and executives, Fenaroli said. Each of these “land sharks” contribute $1,000 in non-dilutive funding to the founder of their choice.
The invite-only event will be accessible to the public via livestream, allowing both the onsite and virtual audiences to vote for a People’s Choice winner who will receive an additional $2,500 cash prize.
Startups competing in the 2025 Pure Pitch Rally include:
- CIQ Health (Dan Schwarzlander) — CIQ Health provides healthcare organizations with contract and network intelligence tools that transform complex pricing data into actionable insights, helping providers and payers optimize reimbursement, benchmark rates, and negotiate more effectively.
- Enrichly (Romy Carlson) — Enrichly is a dual-sided youth enrichment marketplace designed to digitize and modernize the $90B U.S. activities sector, offering families a central hub to discover and enroll in camps and programs, while equipping providers with tools to manage scheduling, payments and growth.
- OnSight (Alex Snook) — A SaaS-based identity verification platform, OnSight protects against freight fraud at warehouse docks by confirming driver credentials in real time, while simultaneously improving efficiency and safety across logistics and supply chain operations.
- perfect pAIr (Lucas Fender) — An AI-powered co-pilot for financial professionals that blends emotionally intelligent discovery with advanced financial planning capabilities, perfect pAIr helps advisors uncover client motivations, deliver holistic strategies across retirement, tax, and estate planning, and inspire action.
- Resonus (Mitch Mabrey) — Resonus is a civic engagement app that allows residents to communicate with local government officials in their own language via text or app, while providing public sector leaders with AI-summarized insights to make faster, more inclusive and more informed decisions.
- SiteScan (Ian Foster) — SiteScan uses AI-powered image recognition to automate civil infrastructure inspections, beginning with sewer systems and quickly expanding to additional use cases, helping engineers and project managers reduce manual workload and accelerate construction timelines.
- Storytailor (JQ Sirls) — Storytailor is a dynamic storytelling platform that adapts in real time to a child’s emotional state, helping families, educators, therapists, and caregivers deliver tailored support and encouragement exactly when children need it most — whether soothing tough moments or celebrating silly ones.
- The Layne Project (Trina Nudson) — BeAligned, developed by The Layne Project, is an AI-powered reflection and negotiation tool that helps families and professionals reduce conflict in high-stakes co-parenting scenarios, supported by a research-based curriculum used in courts, schools and social service agencies.
Participating startups also gain access to opportunities and resources before, during and after the Pure Pitch Rally through a five-part bootcamp series. Sessions touch on storytelling and pitch refinement, brand development, fundraising, product growth, and investor readiness. The programs aim to connect startups with experienced mentors, sponsors and land sharks who help tackle real-world challenges with focus and speed.
High school entrepreneurship students present their choice for a cash prize at the 2024 Pure Pitch Rally; photo by Nikki Overfelt Chifalu, Startland News
Alongside more than 100 land sharks attending the Oct. 27 event, students from local high school entrepreneurship programs will help award multiple $1,000 checks to the startups of their choice, thanks to the support of generous donors across the Kansas City community. These students will also be invited to take part in the Reverse Pitch bootcamp in spring 2026, a hands-on experience focused on solving real world startup challenges.
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Because the 2025 competition marks 10 years of impact — and 80 startups supported — it’s a key moment to champion the community-funded initiative’s unwavering support for meaningful innovation in Kansas City, Fenaroli said.
“For our 10th birthday, I reflect on what thousands of land shark checks have done to create our highly connected investor community,” she explained. “A decade ago, we didn’t have this ecosystem; today, the sky is the limit. We celebrate more funding, more friending, more startups and more talent that is flourishing with the critical tech skills we need to enhance the KC metro’s future.”
Pure Pitch Rally is powered by a coalition of local businesses committed to strengthening the region’s startup economy. Presenting sponsors include Circle Sideways, Fenaroli & Associates, Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Forvis Mazars, nbkc bank and Polsinellii, with additional support from Digital Health KC, Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City (EDCKC), KC Digital Drive, Lathrop GPM, Morningstar Communications, Network Kansas and Stinson LLP, as well as additional philanthropic community leaders.
