DIGITAL SANDBOX KC CONTINUES TO PROVIDE CRITICAL EARLY-STAGE FUNDING TO LATEST 3 COMPANIES
Digital Sandbox KC completed its fourth-quarter application cycle by adding three new companies to its roster, continuing its commitment to bring innovative ideas in the Kansas City region to life.
“After a year marked by a unique set of circumstances, we are glad to have been able to provide a much-needed boost to three early-stage companies,” said Jill Meyer, senior director of the Technology Venture Studio at the UMKC Innovation Center.
Since its inception in 2013, The Sandbox has provided project development funding for 140 area startups, which has spurred an astounding $123,270,821 million in total follow-on funding.
“In 2021 and beyond, high-growth potential startups will play a critical role in driving our economy forward,” Meyer said. “Kansas City is in need of even more innovative ideas and solutions to combat the multitude of challenges our current environment has presented. Providing funding at this critical stage ensures that early-stage companies can test their ideas, generate revenue and begin to scale—leading to job creation and a more vibrant economy.”
An Olathe based company is among the three startups selected for funding support this quarter. Together, they reflect the brilliance and innovation that’s typical of Sandbox companies.
“The latest additions to the Sandbox are building technologies ranging from an automatic bill-splitting solution to AI-powered media processing technology to a sales tech platform creating revenue generating conversations for businesses—showcasing the breadth of technologies that will drive the Kansas City region forward,” Meyer said.
The three latest companies selected for Digital Sandbox KC support include:
Splitsy
Splitsy is a patent-pending mobile application that allows users to automatically split large shared bills without the need for P2P transferring services. Splitsy solves this problem through intuitive software unlike any other available on the market today.
“Digital Sandbox is exactly what we needed to jump-start our business,” said Splitsy President and Co-Founder Brad Starnes. “We could not thank Digital Sandbox enough for the opportunity allowing us to be in a position to dominate our market quickly and efficiently.”
Audo AI
Audo AI transforms the way media is produced by combining media processing technology with cutting edge artificial intelligence. Audo’s resulting tools will radically improve every stage in content creation from capturing and enhancing to editing and distribution while empowering creators and businesses with software that is simple to use, affordable and powerful.
“With funding with Digital Sandbox Kansas City, we’ll be able to drastically reduce our time to market by offloading frontend development work for our MVP,” said Michael Nguyen, CEO of Audo AI.
LeadSigma
LeadSigma is a sales-tech platform that plugs leaky sales funnels by connecting online forms (websites, landing pages, and/or digital lead forms) to business phones and by giving the business an actionable game plan for future follow-up activities, LeadSigma creates revenue generating conversations with new customers in a matter of seconds and ensures that businesses know exactly when and how each sales follow-up action happens.
“LeadSigma is relentlessly pursuing its mission to drive revenue growth and create incredible customer experiences by empowering SME’s with powerful, useful, and turn-key tools. To accomplish this, our LeadSigma team has built a suite of popular integrations and connections for existing digital platforms and CRMs,” said Scott Hansen, LeadSigma CEO. “With Digital Sandbox’s help, LeadSigma will continue expanding our list of integration partners which will open previously untapped markets and fuel our continued growth.”
Digital Sandbox KC is honored to support these new awardees and is ready for new applications for its first-quarter cycle and virtual presentations. Visit digitalsandboxkc.org for more information and to submit your idea.
