KCSourceLink Kansas City Watch List of Startups and Scaling Businesses 2024
You gotta watch these innovative Kansas City startups and scaling companies because they are making waves and making great businesses.
Every company on the 2024 KCSourceLink Watch List received equity funding or grants in 2022 and 2023, or at least two investments or grants in 2023. With the current funding landscape, you know this is an elite group.
The KCSourceLink Watch List isn’t a ranking, but it does highlight some of Kansas City’s stellar new companies and the incredible things they are doing to innovate, adapt and pioneer. This year, 11 of the 12 companies are newcomers to the watch list.
There are dozens of organizations in the KCSourceLink network that helped these entrepreneurs and many, many others. (Take a look at some of the 230+ Resource Partner organizations yourself.) Explore the KCSourceLink Resource Rail and see who can help you along your entrepreneurial journey. And just give KCSourceLink a call at 816-235-6500 or tell us what you need for your business (or business idea) here, and we’ll craft your custom set of next steps and the Kansas City experts and organizations that can help. (Did we mention our guidance is free?)
By the way, we monitor benchmarks that are helping Kansas City support entrepreneurship and new business creation with our annual “WeCreate” reports. “WeCreate Capital” tracks and monitors KC’s capital landscape to help improve entrepreneurs’ access to that capital as well as resources to help them find funding and pitch their company. And KCInvestED helps educate investors and funders about the ways to invest in early-stage Kansas City companies, like those in the KCSourceLink Watch List.
As you hear about these hot KCSourceLink Watch List startups and scaling businesses in the news, know that they are taking advantage of opportunities and leveraging help from 230+ Resource Partner organizations. It’s this entrepreneurial ecosystem that makes Kansas City a hub for entrepreneurship and innovation.
Enough blabbering. Let’s dive into the 2024 KCSourceLink Watch List!
AskSAMIE
Kansas City, Missouri
Founders and leadership: Dr. Brandy Archie, founder; Willie Apala Flaherty
AskSAMIE helps people age well at home by putting expert clinicians, adaptive equipment and aging services all in one place so families and health care professionals can more easily support the older adults they care for.
AskSAMIE launched its Community Project Grant Program in collaboration with Health Forward Foundation, JFS Help at Home and the Community Capital Fund. The initiative is designed to provide critical home modifications and support services for older adults in the Kansas City metro area, enabling them to live safely and independently in their homes.
This is AskSAMIE’s first year on the KCSourceLink Watchlist.
backstitch
Kansas City, Missouri
Founders and leadership: Jordan Warzecha and Stefanie Warzecha
backstitch’s Total Rewards Dashboard and Communications Hub provide a comprehensive solution for human resource teams to design, deliver and measure the employee experience. Integrating with existing HR systems, backstitch’s software-as-a-service aggregates earnings, incentives and employer contributions, while enabling rich, two-way communication. This enhances employee appreciation and benefits enrollment. backstitch supports both public and private companies globally.
Jordan and Stefanie Warzecha founded the business in Detroit in 2012 and moved it to Kansas City in 2016.
This is backstitch’s first year on the KCSourceLink Watch List.
Bardavon
Overland Park, Kansas
Founders and leadership: Matt Condon, founder; Alex Benson, CEO
Founded in 2013, Bardavon is a workers’ compensation partner. The company has access to a nationwide network of therapy providers focused on accelerating treatment of musculoskeletal injuries through timely and personalized customer service and individualized clinical oversight. Bardavon’s tech-enabled products and services offer case transparency and actionable data to inform care decisions, guide recovery and improve return-to-work outcomes.
Bardavon recently launched Recovery+, a health-coaching platform designed to expedite recovery and enhance the return-to-work process for injured workers.
This is Bardavon’s first year on the KCSourceLink Watch List.
Bryght Labs/ChessUp
Kansas City, Missouri
Founders and leadership: Adam Roush, Jeff Wigh, Justin Farrell
Bryght Labs is a consumer electronics innovation studio that invents and launches brands with a focus on novel tech products. The company’s first brand is a smart chess board series named ChessUp. Immediately upon launch, ChessUp grew to be the No. 1 smart chess board. Bryght Labs recently announced ChessUp 2, which features a partnership with the world’s leading chess site, Chess.com. More than 6,000 units of ChessUp 2 are already pre-sold.
Bryght Labs has raised over $3.5 million in lifetime crowdfunding with the Kickstarter campaigns for ChessUp 1 and ChessUp 2 both exceeding $1.5 million in pledges.
This is Bryght Labs’ first year on the KCSourceLink Watch List.
Cingulate
Kansas City, Kansas
Founders and leadership: Matthew Brams, MD; Shane J. Schaffer, PharmD; Raul R. Silva, MD
Cingulate is a Phase 3 clinical stage biopharmaceutical company. It’s focused on developing therapies for attention deficit/hyperactivity disorder and anxiety-related disorders.
The company’s proprietary Precision Timed Release™ drug delivery platform is designed to improve treatment outcomes by addressing burdensome daily dosing. Cingulate recently completed the manufacturing of 12 registration batches for CTx-1301, its asset for the treatment of ADHD. This is a required step prior to submitting a new drug application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Cingulate now anticipates submitting its application in the first half of 2025.
This is Cingulate’s second year on the KCSourceLink Watch List.
DirectSync Surgical
Lawrence, Kansas
Founders and leadership: Zygmunt Porada, CEO; Leighton LaPierre, COO and co-founder; Lisa Friis, CTO and co-founder; Paul Arnold, CMO and co-founder; Ember Krech, Lead R&D Engineer
Since 2014, DirectSync Surgical has been on a mission to redefine the way orthopedic and spinal implantable devices are researched, designed and developed. The startup is pioneering a new generation of human-powered smart implants that enhance the body’s natural ability to heal and provide advanced postoperative implant data to physicians and their patients. DirectSync Surgical has raised $1.75 million in non-dilutive National Institutes of Health Small Business Innovation Research funding.
This is DirectSync Surgical’s first year on the KCSourceLink Watch List.
Far UV Technologies
Kansas City, Missouri
Founder: PJ Piper
Far UV Technologies is the global leader in ultraviolet and heap filter indoor air quality solutions with over 10,000 installations successfully protecting millions of people on six continents for over 30 years. Locations include over 100 schools, 100 hospitals, statewide correctional facilities, international airports, homeless shelters, the U.S. Department of Defense and more.
The company was recently notified that it is receiving a Tibbetts Award for its work with NASA and the DOD, the highest national recognition for small business innovation research. Far UV Technologies is the first company in over 15 years to be awarded in either Missouri or Kansas with the honor.
This is Far UV Technology’s first year on the KCSourceLink Watchlist.
Hawaiian Bros
Kansas City, Missouri
Founders and leadership: Scott Ford, president and CEO; Cameron McNie, founder and executive chair; Tyler McNie, founder
Hawaiian Bros is a rapidly growing restaurant concept that serves flavorful, island-inspired food quickly. Hawaiian Bros opened its first location in 2018, and today, the company owns and franchises more than 55 restaurants serving the aloha spirit in nine states across America. Hawaiian Bros’ expansion strategy places a strong emphasis on franchise growth, leveraging the expertise of seasoned multi-unit operators to ensure successful and sustainable development. Since March 2023, the brand has signed development agreements with eight multi-unit franchisees to develop and open more than 160 restaurants across 25 markets in 10 states.
Hawaiian Bros has earned a variety of prestigious awards since it opened in 2018, including a No. 1 spot on Ingram’s Corporate Report of the Top 100 Fastest Growing Companies, the No. 7 spot on QSR Magazine’s 40/40 List of America’s Hottest Startup Fast Casuals, inclusion in Nation’s Restaurant News 100 Under 100 Emerging Restaurant Chains, a spot on Fast Casual Top 100 Movers & Shakers’ list, plus many more.
This is Hawaiian Bros’ first year on the KCSourceLink Watch List.
Love Lifesciences
Olathe, Kansas
Founders and leadership: Nick Love, MD, MBA; Bradley Hopper
Love Lifesciences is a medical injection device company that is currently launching a single-use, therapeutic-agnostic, hybrid-injection safety device called UniPen.
In July 2023, Love Lifesciences closed a $1 million pre-seed round, led by the GROWKS investment group and Kansas-based angel investors. Prior to raising the pre-seed round, the startup received project funding from Digital Sandbox KC and another $20,000 grant from the Kansas Department of Commerce.
This is Love Lifesciences’ first year on the KCSourceLink Watchlist.
SpiderOak
Lenexa, Kansas
Founders and leadership: Charles Beames, chairman; Dave Pearah, CEO; Jonathan Moore, Chief Technology Officer; Kip Gering, Chief Revenue Officer
Founded in 2007, SpiderOak is a software company that delivers end-to-end cybersecurity and resiliency solutions for civil, military and commercial space operations. In January 2023, the company raised $16.4 million in a Series C funding round. In May 2023, the company received additional strategic investments from Accenture Ventures, Raytheon Technologies’ RTX Ventures and Stellar Ventures.
This is SpiderOak’s first year on the KCSourceLink Watch List.
VINCUE
Kansas City, Missouri
Founders and leadership: Chris Hoke, Jeff Rice, Brian Kellogg, Danny Zaslavsky, Nicki Hodges, Angela Rizzo, Michael Hopkins, Jeremy Bravard, Jamie Longwell, Chris Arnold
VINCUE is the solution retail automotive dealers are using to optimize the performance of their entire inventory lifecycle, giving them access to powerful data and new tools that allows them to compete effectively and maximize their profits.
In 2023, VINCUE closed a Series B round, led by Holman, a global automotive services organization. The company has recently updated its platform to include more integrations and allow dealers to use the VINCUE Trade Network to buy, sell and ship cars to one another.
This is VINCUE’s first year on the KCSourceLink Watchlist.
Workplace Healing
Leawood, Kansas
Founders and leadership: Mindy Corporon, Lisa Cooper
Workplace Healing is the innovator of the Human Recovery Platform, which helps corporate leaders retain valued employees and preserve morale by transforming how they support team members affected by challenging life disruptions.
Workplace Healing is currently in conversation with several large business entities for the integration of its Human Recovery Platform.
This is Workplace Healing’s first year on the KCSourceLink Watchlist.
