Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022
Innovation in Kansas City knows no age or industry. From pre-seed stage startups to firms with dozens of employees, the leading edge of tech in the Heartland has taken root — and grown in unexpected forms.
The future newsmakers showcased as part of Startland News’ Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022 list each are focused on making lives easier — for small business owners, corporations, friends, pet lovers and even livestock. They’re bridging the worlds of on-demand services and niche industry solutions, urban living and the animal health corridor.
Jan 20
An in-depth interview special with the Startups to Watch founders will stream online and in-person Jan. 20 in partnership with the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, Spark Kansas City, KC BizCare, Evergy Ventures, and Husch Blackwell.
Click here for tickets to the in-person screening at the KC Live! Block or for access to the online broadcast.
Nearly two years after a global pandemic rocked every vertical in every industry, as supply chain challenges linger, and consumers, investors and partners evolve — these companies are poised to make some of the new year’s biggest headlines.
Choosing only 10 companies to highlight wasn’t easy. If an ongoing pandemic has shown us anything, it’s that tenacity and perseverance have never been stronger in Kansas City. As always with this annual look ahead — now in its seventh year — the final result isn’t a declaration of the “best of the best.” The Startups to Watch list is intended to pointedly represent the momentum the Startland News editorial team sees in the newsmakers we cover every day.
The 2022 list was compiled through more than six months of on-going research and countless (in-person and virtual) conversations with community experts, funders and support organizations. Ultimately, curation of the list relied heavily on the honesty, openness and track record of founders.
The Startland News editorial team culled about 35 semi-finalists from nearly 300 nominations and newsroom-generated leads, narrowed that list to 20, and finally to the selected Startups to Watch class of 2022. We’re confident these founders and companies will be shaping the narrative of Kansas City’s tech and innovation progress and strength in the year to come.
Keep scrolling to discover Startland News’ 10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022, listed in alphabetical order.
Click here to check out Startland News’ 2021 list, or look back at our original predictions in 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020.
The Kansas City Startups Watch in 2022 list is made possible by presenting sponsors Husch Blackwell and the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, though independently produced by Startland News.
Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2022
Click here for a full profile on afloat.
Sarah-Allen Preston, afloat
Click here for a full profile on Approach.
Luke Lim and Andrew Potter, Approach
Click here for a full profile on Interplay.
Jonaie Johnson, Interplay
Click here for a full profile on Kenzen.
Heidi Lehmann, Kenzen
Click here for a full profile on Lula.
Bo Lais, Lula
Click here for a full profile on MyAnIML.
Shekhar Gupta, MyAnIML
Click here for a full profile on Particle Space.
David Biga, Particle Space
Click here for a full profile on SOFTwarfare.
Wyatt Cobb, SOFTwarfare
Click here for a full profile on Venboo.
Juaquan Herron, Venboo
Click here for a full profile on VinCue.
Danny Zaslavsky and Chris Hoke, VinCue
Check out previous lists of Kansas City Startups to Watch
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