Funding Stories

Nolan McMichael, Brad Starnes, and Joe Allen, Splitsy

Splitsy takes top prize in Regnier challenge, adding to emerging fintech startup’s spring bump

The Regnier Venture Creation Challenge doled out more than $65,000 in cash prizes to emerging startups this spring, culminating in Friday’s big win for an up-and-coming fintech app.  “We had a great competition,” Bryan Boots, managing director of venture creation and assistant teaching professor at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, told Startland News.  The annual…

John Blake, CFO, and Luke Anear, CEO, SafetyCulture

SafetyCulture rides deeper into unicorn club with $73M round, reaching $1.6B valuation

The evolution from a checklist app into an operations platform for working teams is paying off for SafetyCulture, which Monday announced a massive funding round from the East Coast — pushing the unicorn company even deeper into the realm of startups valued at more than a billion dollars. Led by New York-based Insight Partners, the…

Scott Hansen, LeadSigma

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,…

Dr. F. Nicholas Franano, Artio Medical; photo courtesy of Max McBride

$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…

Photo courtesy of Healium

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…