KCRise Fund

Advocates want a startup-boosting Missouri angel investor tax credit (but they’ll have to beat legislature’s ticking clock)

With about a week left in Missouri’s legislative session, business advocates at NEXT Missouri are making a final push for lawmakers to pass a bill creating a state angel investor tax credit — legislation its backers say could catalyze early-stage business growth and keep entrepreneurial talent and essential startup capital rooted in the state. Jason…

John Bertrand, Daupler

Daupler closes $15M Series B to boost real-time responses to energy, water emergencies

A Kansas City company’s latest funding round will help the startup manage critical infrastructure provided by utilities and municipalities — driving its growth within the electric utility market and accelerating international expansion into utilities in the United Kingdom and European Union. Daupler on Thursday announced an oversubscribed $15 million Series B round led by Aqualateral,…

URL to IRL insights: KC analytics startup downloads $1.2M pre-seed round powered by coalition of VCs

The region’s investment community is rallying around an Overland Park tech startup that unlocks insights from videos online and beyond — and its trio of Kansas City founders is grateful to see local talent earning capital that more easily flows to coastal innovators. A $1.2 million pre-seed for dScribe AI is expected to fuel growth…

Invary’s $3.5M seed round gives startup homefield advantage to rewrite the rules of cybersecurity

A $3.5 million seed round backed by two high-profile Kansas City funds is expected to help Invary redefine runtime security, said Jason Rogers, CEO of the Lawrence-based cybersecurity startup — making new funding headlines from within the KU Innovation Park. Invary — a pioneer in Runtime Integrity solutions built on NSA-licensed technology — announced the round…

If you build it, they will come: KC leaders pitch downtown baseball to expats eying a return to home plate

Downtown baseball remains a winning prospect for Kansas City — and the Royals — civic and business leaders told a crowd of former residents who are considering a move back to KC, encouraging them to imagine a homecoming of big league proportions. “I think everyone agrees that Major League Baseball is a downtown sport,” Jon Stephens,…