Digital Sandbox KC Releases New Impact Report Detailing How Companies Leveraged Early-Stage Funding for Growth

Digital Sandbox KC has released its 2023 Impact Report, which tells the story of how up to $20,000 in project-funding for each of its 180 Kansas City innovations has yielded economic impact for KC founders and for our region. 

 “Digital Sandbox KC helps fill a key piece of the early-stage funding life cycle, when founders are still finding their footing and working through proof of concept. We depend on programs like Sandbox to cultivate the green shoots of our innovation ecosystem,” says Dan Kerr, Partner at Flyover Capital. 

 In 2022, the most recent year of data, Digital Sandbox KC invested in 21 new startups, bringing the total number of Sandbox companies to 180. Of those 180 companies, 84% have gone on to raise follow-on funding. In total, Sandbox companies have raised $220 million in additional capital. 

 Digital Sandbox KC is committed to ensuring diversity in entrepreneurship, innovation and tech education. To date, 43% of the companies Digital Sandbox KC has invested in have a founding team with a person of color, and 51% of Sandbox companies have a women founder. 

Download and read our 2023 Digital Sandbox KC Report here. 

 2022 Highlights 

 2022 was a milestone year for many Digital Sandbox KC companies. Throughout the year, many of the startups who went through the Sandbox program saw fast growth, partnerships, product launches, impressive rounds of pre-seed funding and more. 

 Here are a few highlights:

• Fresh off a successful $900,000 pre-seed funding round, DataAppraisal’s AI-powered software is helping health care organizations unlock the monetary value of their enterprise data. Beyond the pre-seed funding, DataAppraisal was awarded $50,000 from Launch KC in November 2022. 

• Managing health records has never been easier thanks to Kansas City health tech startup MyDigiRecords. The company helps vulnerable and disadvantaged populations manage their health documents digitally.

• Digital health startup Redpoint Summit is reducing physician burnout and improving hospital efficiency by leveraging artificial intelligence. Since receiving Sandbox funding, the company has partnered with and received a follow-on investment from Nebraska Medicine, a comprehensive health network that provides access to two major hospitals, more than 1,000 doctors and 40 clinics in the Omaha, Nebraska, area. 

• Scout is revolutionizing veterinary dental charting, anesthesia planning and monitoring. Digital Sandbox KC funding covered the development costs for Scout’s interactive mock-ups, which the company used at its first veterinary conference in New York last year. Scout officially went live in March 2023. 

• Workplace Healing is on a mission to change workplace culture for the better and arm managers with tools to re-engage employees. The company allows managers to create customized “human recovery plans” to make employees feel supported, increase their engagement and help companies retain talent. The company is raising $1.5 million in capital and is transitioning from an LLC to a C corporation. 

Digital Sandbox KC accepts new applications on a rolling basis and funds projects every quarter.  Visit techventurestudiokc.com/digital-sandbox for more information and to apply.