SPN Team

  • Parametric Studio Inc. awarded $738,000 grant

    Parametric Studio Inc. awarded $738,000 grant

    Ames-based Parametric Studio Inc. has received $738,000 in grant money from the National Science Foundation Small Business Innovation Research fund. This NSF SBIR grant will help Parametric Studio, Inc. commercialize its technology. The company is developing its EDISON software, which is designed to provide a collaborative environment for students to formulate and solve problems, simulate…

  • TruMarx closes $7.2 million deal

    TruMarx closes $7.2 million deal

    TruMarx Data Partners, Inc. raised $7.22 million in venture funding in a deal led by HBS Angels Alumni Association on October 25. Cornerstone Angels, Bob Green, Tom Price, and B-Con LP also participated in the round. Chicago-based TruMarx was co-founded in 2007 by Jon Olson, Michael Mackey, Glenn Smart, and Charles Reese. The company delivers…

  • Opendorse to hire 10 in 2019

    Opendorse to hire 10 in 2019

    In 2011, Nebraska football players Adi Kunalic and Blake Lawrence were talking with their teammate – Prince Amukamara. Prince had just been drafted in the first round of the NFL draft, but he had a problem. He needed help pushing quality content to his rapidly growing social media audience and wanted to capitalize on his…

  • Ten Missouri Companies That SPN Is Watching

    Ten Missouri Companies That SPN Is Watching

    Ten Missouri Companies That SPN Is Watching EquipmentShare.com – A platform for contractors to find/rent expensive equipment for unique construction jobs. (Columbia) Site 1001 – A smart building management software that integrates sensors and artificial intelligence.  JE Dunn is an investor. (Kansas City) Neurolutions – You had us at Brain – Computer Interface Technology.  The…

  • VetMeasure raises $1.36 million in angel funding

    VetMeasure raises $1.36 million in angel funding

    VetMeasure raised $1.36 million in angel funding from undisclosed investors on October 26. The Ames, Iowa-based company was founded in 2015 by Kevin Maher, and uses Bluetooth technology and a web application to track health and physiological conditions of dogs in real time. The company has developed a dog harness it calls MeasureON! that detects…

  • KCSourceLink awarded second grant, continues growing KC’s entrepreneurial community

    KCSourceLink awarded second grant, continues growing KC’s entrepreneurial community

    KCSourceLink announced on Wednesday that they have been awarded a second grant to continue its work as a University Center Economic Development Program to spur entrepreneurship, economic growth and job creation. KCSourceLink, a program of the Innovation Center at the University of Missouri-Kansas City, received its first University Center Program grant in 2013 from the U.S. Department of Commerce. “KCSourceLink…

  • 8Qs with a Silicon Prairie Founder: Archna Sahay

    8Qs with a Silicon Prairie Founder: Archna Sahay

    Archna Sahay is an independent urban systems consultant based in Philadelphia. Currently, she is working in Milwaukee helping the local ecosystem connect, grow, and thrive. SPN met with her during her speaking engagements at Big Omaha and the Madwaukee series in Wisconsin in August. She is a nationally recognized speaker and innovation consultant known for…

  • SMRxT completes $3.9M equity raise

    SMRxT completes $3.9M equity raise

    Overland Park, Kansas based SMRxT executed a $3.9 million equity raise last week.  The company has “humanized” the pill bottle to ensure that patients are taking their medicine. The company was founded in the mid-2000s. It started as a means to improve patient adherence to medication schedule. On their website, the company estimates that this…

  • LendingStandard closes fund-raising round at $2M

    LendingStandard closes fund-raising round at $2M

    Olathe, Kansas based LendingStandard closed a $2 million round. The firm, formerly known as formzapper.com, provides software that facilitates commercial lending underwriting. LendingStandard is a software platform that creates an open environment for communicating and documenting potential transactions.  This allows the parties to request, receive, edit, and collaborate on a secure platform inside of a…

  • SPN Top 10: Things you should know about OKC’s startup ecosystem

    SPN Top 10: Things you should know about OKC’s startup ecosystem

    Oklahoma City’s ecosystem had a rough week from the outside looking in. Silicon Prairie News ran a story where the community underperformed its expected venture investment. The Brookings Institute and Walton Family Foundation produced an article suggesting that the community was having waning investment. But frankly, this is pretty misleading. OKC is going through a…