Kansas City is home to many startups turning innovative ideas into flourishing businesses. We have put together the A-list Kansas City companies continuing to amplify Kansas City's startup presence.
From smooth jazz to the Kansas City Chiefs, KCMO is known for many great things. It's also a vibrant city teeming with entrepreneurship and innovation.
Kansas City has proven to be a viable breeding ground for innovating and exciting startups. The city offers a sustainable ecosystem for entrepreneurs to provide solutions for individuals and communities.
In this article, we cover the top Kansas City companies to watch in 2022. Each has an impressive track record for funding rounds, job creation, and long-term innovation.
Listen to the Podcast Episode About KC's Top Startups
As a Kansas City-based outfit ourselves, we intimately know many of the interesting startups that have blossomed here in "Flyover Country." As a result, here are our picks for top Kansas City companies for 2022.
Property owners and apartment managers have a lot on their plates. Homebase is one of those tech companies that offer a way to create the ultimate smart living resident experiences while future-proofing their building for IoT.
Homebase is a building and community management automation platform that simplifies property management using smart devices and technologies.
Founded by CEO Blake Miller, the platform provides apps for residents, managers, and staff. The apps have robust controls and insights for smart home devices, building systems, and intelligent amenity services.
Homebase enables building-wide Wi-Fi connectivity, access control, and other smart building systems as a 24/7/365 managed service. It also has some hardware for sale. However, property owners will need to ask for a quote.
Full Scale CEO and Startup Hustle Host, Matt DeCoursey recently spoke with RaeAnn Lovall, Chief People Officer of Homebase, about "Building an Innovation Machine Culture." Listen to the episode here.
ModRN Health is a virtual primary care solution with a web-based platform. It gives subscribers access to a team of dedicated, specialized nurses, and resource partners.
When members sign up for the service, the app assigns a registered nurse and doctor for their health care needs. Assigning a dedicated healthcare team ensures continuity of care.
If a member needs help, they can communicate within minutes with their care team. As a result, members can get a health problem diagnosed, prescription refilled, a recommendation for a specialist, or answers to health questions. The member's care team provides medical help, finds specialists when needed, discusses care options, offers relevant education, and more.
Founder and CEO CaRessa Hutchinson led ModRN Health to become the supplemental nursing provider for the National Emergency Tele-Critical Care Network. The company has acquired an undisclosed amount in three funding rounds since its founding.
Make sure to check out the recent Startup Hustle episode with CaRessa Hutchinson and Startup Hustle host, Matt DeCoursey. They talk about "Disrupting the Healthcare Industry" by simplifying the path to better health.Listen to the episode here.
Watch Our Reaction Video and Bonus Footage from CaRessa's Recording Session
kinly is a fully-inclusive, Black-founded financial technology company with the goal of helping Black America build generational wealth.
Founded by CEO Donald Hawkins, kinly is "unapologetic banking built for Black America." The company received $20 million in two funding rounds from six investors since its founding. It has the backing of the Central Bank of Kansas City.
Startup Hustle Host, and Full Scale CEO and Founder, Matt DeCoursey recently recorded an episode with Donald Hawkins about "Raising Capital as a Minority Founder." Listen to the episode here.
Watch the Reaction Video and Bonus Footage from Donald's Recording Session
Established in 2018, Tesseract Ventures is one of the top Kansas City startups for technology.
Tesseract Ventures is a robotics company that specializes in AI, UIX, and XR. It aims to help tech companies and industries become more efficient, smarter, and better connected. As a result, Tesseract focuses on developing next-generation robots, 21st-century software, smart spaces, and connected platforms.
CEO and founder John Boucard intended Tesseract Ventures to curate insights, forge partnerships, and foster opportunities that deliver positive impact. As a result, it makes revolutionary technologies today that will be tomorrow's essentials in living.
Tesseract Ventures is at the extreme end of tech companies that sparked some investor interest. As a result, it received $2 million in one funding round from UMB, a Kansas City financial services holding company.
Recently, Full Scale Founder, and Startup Hustle Host, Matt DeCoursey spoke with John Boucard about how robotics create a culture of creativity in "Toys, Robots, and Entrepreneur Superpowers." Listen to the episode here.
Watch Our Reaction Video and Bonus Footage from John Boucard's Recording Session
Torch.AI is a platform that specializes in the high-speed processing of large amounts of data for large enterprises and organizations. It is an artificial intelligence cloud solutions company that provides domain-specific and also pre-trained machine learning models.
The aim is to enrich existing data, even if the data is incomplete, flawed, or unstructured. Among its AI technologies are optical character recognition, natural language processing, sentiment analysis, and more.
Under the leadership of CEO and founder Brian Weaver, Torch.AI created hundreds of jobs in Kansas City since its founding. As a result, it has received a $27 million tax incentive package from the Kansas Department of Commerce to further that purpose. Torch.AI has also received $30 million in one Series A funding round from WestCap, an early growth-oriented investment firm.
Startup Hustle spoke with Brian Weaver on “Passion, Pioneers, and AI.” Listen to the episode here.
Bungii is an app that helps Kansas City companies businesses by offering on-demand pickup and delivery of big and bulky items. Touted as the "Uber for pickup trucks," their premium delivery solution features industry-leading and innovative logistics tools. The company also boasts excellent customer service and professional drivers.
The app simplifies the process for clients whether they want to haul, deliver, or pick up large items around the city. Bungii founders CEO Ben Jackson and CRO Harrison Proffitt aim to bring the world closer. Under their leadership, Bungii raised $13.4 million in three funding rounds from three investors since its founding.
Ben Jackson joined Startup Hustle as one of our very first guests back in 2017. Listen to the episode here.
Wearable tech has been up and down in popularity (note the Apple Watch and similar tech). However, wearable tech is not a fashion accessory in the industrial world but a critical safety feature.
Kenzen is one of the Kansas City companies such Kansas City company that takes wearable tech very seriously. The software company produces wearable devices specifically designed for the construction industry.
It detects physiological symptoms of heat injury by using a predictive body heat sensor system. Industrial workers wear the device on the upper arm to alert workers and their supervisors when body temperatures approach unsafe levels.
Kenzen is a women-founded and led company, specifically by Nora Levinson. Under her leadership, Kenzen raised $9.1 million in seven funding rounds from 15 investors since its founding.
Choosing the right insurance company that fits your needs can be challenging. To Mylo is an AI-enabled insurance tech platform that helps Kansas City startups with that.
Its recommendation engine, Mind of Mylo™, seamlessly connects business owners and individuals with top-rated insurance products from multiple carriers. The insurance products include business, small group benefits, home, auto, life, and individual health.
The independent and unbiased matchmaking service is also free for consumers. CEO David Embry aims to provide customers with the right policy at the best price.
Therefore, it only recommends carrier partners with the best financial strength and claims payment records. Under its CEO, Mylo received $39 million in two funding rounds from Guggenheim Partners, a global investment firm since its founding.
In January of 2020, Matt DeCoursey and Matt Watson spoke with David Embry about how to choose the right insurance for businesses. Listen to the episode here.
Replica is an urban planning data platform for delivering critical insights about the built environment. It helps next-generation land developers, public agencies, and communities acquire a sense of patterns in city movement. As a result, users gain higher confidence in critical transportation and land-use decisions.
The platform uses advanced modeling to collect granular data about who's traveling where, when, why, and how. Whenever possible, the platform measures its model outputs against observed ground truth.
These ground-truths include auto counts and transit ridership. Replica publishes the results to provide greater certainty to its customers. Its customers can also offer their ground truth for more relevant and measurable model outputs.
Under founder and CEO Nick Bowden, the company aims to provide a collective representation of the built environment. Meanwhile, Replica has received $52 million in three funding rounds from eight investors.
The property management business is a complex one. Simplifyy provides a SaaS solution that handles everything involved in operating properties. It uses AI-based software to automate advertising and marketing and manage leasing. Simplifyy also handles its subscribers' resident care, property maintenance, accounting, and reporting.
Other features include smart locks and secure screening processes so customers can lease around the clock. Simplifyy also maximizes resident retention by ensuring residents can communicate 24/7 with property managers for any concerns and issues.
Founded in 2019 by CEO Jake Lisby with Paul Worcester and Russell Reitz, the proptech company solves many problems in real estate. As a result, Simplifyy received $9.8 million in two funding rounds.
Click Here to Listen to the Startup Hustle episode where Full Scale CEO and Startup Hustle Host, Matt DeCoursey spoke with founder Paul Worcester about "Property Management Automation Startups."
Do you have concerns about the security and integrity of your data-sharing platform? Enter TripleBlind, a SaaS private data sharing company developing a cryptographic platform to share, leverage, and monetize regulated data.
TripleBlind's suite of tools enables Kansas City companies enterprises to safely provide and consume sensitive data and algorithms in encrypted space in a highly private and secure setting. Institutions can therefore collaborate without data ever being decrypted or leaving their firewall through TripleBlend's one-way transformation technology.
Founded by Greg Storm and CEO Riddhiman Das, TripleBlind ensures authorized data use compliance with privacy regulations. The company has received $32.2 million in three funding rounds from 17 investors since its founding in 2019.
Kansas City Companies: On the Road to Success
Kansas City has all the right elements—growing investor funding support and an excellent foundation for startups. This list is by no means exhaustive. We anticipate many more interesting Kansas City startups will come into being soon, each one filled with enormous talent and energy.
If you would like to read more about top startups in other cities, check out our list here!
At Startup Hustle, we are always happy to feature startup founders in our hometown of Kansas City. Featuring innovative and interesting emerging growth companies inspires us and other entrepreneurs to open their minds and hustle.
If you are a hustler in the entrepreneurial scene and want to be our guest, hit us up on Startup Hustle.
