LightBridge delivers distributed data storage solutions through deployment of our proprietary software into telecommunication facilities that currently exist. By leveraging their strategic partnerships with local, regional and national telecommunication carriers, LightBridge is able to substantially reduce monthly data storage wholesale costs.

Beyond the data storage cost savings LightBridge extends to its clients are the benefits of unprecedented security, redundancy and geographical distribution. Combining these elements is how LightBridge is disrupting the traditional data storage market.

Digital Sandbox KC is working with LightBridge to develop customer integration features and advise on intellectual property protection.

XLRYNT (Accelerant) Technologies uses a new, patent pending, approach to process networking application data at speeds 10 to 1000 times faster than existing architectures.  Funds from Digital Sandbox will be used in helping to secure the intellectual property and for a prototype to demonstrate the application of this innovative technology to ‘Big Data’ type operations.

Venture 360 has developed a technology platform to assist private equity investors in evaluating, closing and tracking investments in order to facilitate a private market for trading these securities. Digital Sandbox KC will provide resources to develop additional features so that the platform can support entrepreneurs in organizing their capital raising efforts.

The complete suite of software services for the private equity market includes a proprietary deal scoring and ranking system; investment closing; portfolio tracking; and individual investor portfolio management.

Digital Sandbox KC resources will be used to build the “entrepreneur facing” element of the Venture 360 platform.  With this element added, Venture 360 will release its beta version and seek additional investment.

Flyover Innovations LLC is a hardware/software startup company focusing on easy to use smart A/V and AV accessory products. The first product, Blumoo™ , is a universal home entertainment “app-cessory” that provides users seamless control of the audio and visual equipment already installed in their home.

Digital Sandbox KC is working with FlyOver to develop a prototype on the iOS and Android mobile platforms.

Jobs boards, recruiters, college placement offices and sheer competition – juggling the demands of the job hunt fresh out of college is tougher than trying to find an actual book with an old-school card catalog.

What online catalogs did for college research and sites like Kayak did for booking travel, Briefcase is doing for university placement offices and college job seekers, with the help of Digital Sandbox KC.

“One of the biggest struggles start-ups face is the ability to pull in resources relevant to the companies Minimum Viable Product, said Christian Fisher, CEO. “With the amazing resources, physical, monetarily and mentoring-wise that Digital Sandbox brings to the table, companies like ours can offset some of those struggles and ultimately be successful earlier on. We are proud and honored to be a part of this next group of remarkable companies chosen to the Digital Sandbox program.”

Fisher moved to Kansas City from the Bay Area after being recruited to lead the global talent acquisition of a large digital advertising company. There, he met Nick Mallare, and together they embarked on a startup journey to “terraform” the landscape of job searching.

Briefcase, powered by Cobrapps, aggregates job boards and sites, delivers real-time push notifications to job seekers and keeps track of the entire process from start to finish and beyond. A powerful management tool for the job seeker, Briefcase also allows universities to distribute jobs, track job placement and ultimately improve their job placement rates.

With a great idea in the palm of their hand, Fisher and Mallare recruited their team, including Caleb Phillippi, COO and Alex Benson, Director of UX. They then assembled their advisory board and developed their platform.

Support from Digital Sandbox KC will help Briefcase continue to fully develop their initial product version.

Healthcare providers face any number of challenges in the current environment. Innovative Health Media (IHM), with the help of Digital Sandbox KC, has developed a product to solve at least one challenge: reduce the time and effort it takes for primary care providers and extended care facilities to accurately conduct Medicare Annual Wellness Visits.

IHM’s product, the e-AWV™ System, uses the Medicare Annual Wellness Visit (AWV) as a tool to provide a physical and cloud-based Personal Health Record for Medicare patients. The e-AWV system helps clinicians meet Medicare requirements for reimbursement in a simple, intuitive and cost-efficient fashion.

The e-AWV serves both the needs of the patient and the clinician. Patients often do not have basic information about their own health, such as health history, medications, family history, risk factors and prevention. Physicians have not had the tools to educate their patients, with potential life-threatening results. The e-AWV Personal Health Record solves the communication problem between healthcare providers and patients.

Chuck Smith, an RN with more than 18 years of experience, founded the company in 2010 and created the e-AWV system. He and partner David Wilson have co-founded several companies ranging from real estate to temp staffing. The product has progressed through alpha and beta stages, and version 1.0 is currently in use.

Digital Sandbox KC funding will allow IHM to make several product enhancements and add features in order to build interest and market share. The founders recently participated in SparkLabKC and received $18,000 in equity funding from that source.

Although 30 percent of iPhone users in the United States are Hispanic, less than 5 percent of Hispanic newspapers and radio stations have an iPhone app or a mobile website. Through the support of Digital Sandbox KC, Bluejacket Technology will take the next steps in developing its product, Mi Zócalo, for the U.S. Hispanic market and help Hispanic publishers move into the mobile era and create new revenue streams.

The Mi Zócalo platform allows the publisher to share existing content on mobile devices and increase revenue through additional advertising streams. For users, Mi Zócalo is a bilingual guide to the Hispanic communities of America. The app helps users find local bilingual news, events and buzz-worthy places to eat, shop and have fun based on the informed opinions of local Latinos. 

Mi Zócalo is the brainchild of a talented management team. Christina Frazier, CEO, is a serial entrepreneur who raised venture capital in China and sold her second company, Alianthus, Inc., to Galaxy Glory Holding Ltd in 2010.  She co-created a very popular top-20 android app that generated more than 500,000 downloads. Ed Reyes, CMO/Sales Director, is a member of the Reyes Media Group, which owns and operates Spanish language newspapers and radio stations in Kansas, Missouri and Texas.

Support from the Digital Sandbox will assist in the development of a “dashboard” user interface, critical for the implementation of beta testing.  

When selling a home, the seller can often get little consideration. Real estate veterans Liz Zimmerman and Jaimie Macoubrie noticed that problem, and created a solution that’s on its way to becoming a thriving company.

TrackTi came as a result of brainstorming a solution for eliminating the scheduling chaos associated with selling a home.  Digital Sandbox KC provided additional resources that streamlined the steps needed to complete their product in order to successfully launch.

The #1 complaint from home sellers is the time lost waiting for scheduled showings. A buyer’s agent schedules showings for several homes in one day. The showing service allows for 1 – 2 hour windows for each home, which gives the buyer plenty of time to travel between homes. The burden is then placed on the seller to leave the home for a specific window of time, not knowing if the agent either arrived or left during the scheduled time. TrackTi constantly updates the seller as to the estimated arrival and departure time of the showing agent.

The patent and application not only covers real estate, but also other markets where waiting for a service call is an issue. Think cable company, refrigerator repair or package delivery.

DivvyHQ (Alluresoft, LLC) has received funding from Digital Sandbox KC and Dundee Venture Capital of Omaha, Neb., to ramp up marketing and operations for the cloud-based content planning platform.

DivvyHQ was initially launched as the content marketing industry’s first spreadsheet-free editorial calendar application built specifically for professional content producers. Today, DivvyHQ helps organizations plan and facilitate their marketing and social media initiatives, and communicate more efficiently than ever. Within one easy application, customers can manage content ideas, their editorial team, production workflows and deadlines.

Dundee’s investment follows proof-of-concept funding from the Digital Sandbox that helped fill the IT management void in the company. Digital Sandbox support also provided resources to develop the proper corporate structure for the company, better positioning DivvyHQ for follow on funding.

“We are very excited about how these partnerships will allow us to build a rock-star team that will accelerate the development of our application and provide your content team with a more robust and customizable set of tools,” said Brody Dorland, co-founder.

DivvyHQ was launched in September 2011 at the first Content Marketing World in Cleveland, Ohio.

“We were so excited to see our tool fill a big need and eliminate much of the pain that has been tolerated by so many content practitioners,” Dorland said.

Funding Match

DivvyHQ was a great fit for Dundee Venture Capital, given its focus on Midwest-based companies with a SaaS solution in a rapidly growing market. “We are excited to invest in Brock and Brody to help push DivvyHQ into the mainstream,” said Michael Wetta, principal at Dundee Venture Capital. “DivvyHQ’s unique approach to planning and executing sophisticated content marketing strategies combined with the team’s expertise in the increasingly complex and growing market created an attractive investment. ” 

The company also fit the Digital Sandbox profile of a company on the cusp of something big. “DivvyHQ is a great example of how the Digital Sandbox KC can help fill a gap and get a company fully prepared for their first real round of equity funding,” said Jeff Shackelford, director, Digital Sandbox KC.  

Digital Sandbox funding for DivvyHQ was made possible by the Missouri Technology Corporation through a matching grant to the Digital Sandbox program.

The Next Chapter of DivvyHQ

With a solid foundation and a notable customer base in place, the company looks forward to introducing customers to the new DivvyHQ, a fast-growing company with a targeted focus on building the best tool for big brands, agencies, publishers and media companies who produce high-volumes of content. 

Founders will head back to Content Marketing World in September to give attendees the first introduction to the new DivvyHQ. Friends of DivvyHQ can use the promo code “DIVVYHQ” and get a $100 discount on registration.