Toby Rush

  • EyeVerify knocks out Get in the Ring win, Travefy grabs second

    Two Silicon Prairie startups entered the Get in the Ring finals Monday night along with six other companies. They ended the night tops in the country. EyeVerify CEO Toby Rush, presenting in the smartphone biometrics startup’s hometown of Kansas City, had the crowd behind him from the first bell, winning the overall competition and fan…

  • EyeVerify’s Toby Rush: Kansas City startup scene is “worth bragging on”

    When it comes to finding talented team members, Toby Rush, CEO of Kansas City-based startup EyeVerify, believes he doesn’t need to look any further than his own backyard. In an installment of the Wall Street Journal’s Accelerators series—where startup mentors discuss strategies for and challenges of starting a business—published today, Rush wrote about his experiences finding entrepreneurial…

  • EyeVerify CEO Toby Rush happy to be honest with young startups

    Toby Rush has just about seen it all in when it comes to startups, first in growing Rush Tracking Systems to a cash sale in 2011, and now as CEO of EyeVerify, which develops biometrics software. He recently spoke with the Kansas City Business Journal about how he’s tried to pass those …

  • Watch EyeVerify, Banno demo their wares at bank tech event Finovate

    Kansas City-based EyeVerify and Cedar Falls, Iowa-based Banno recently showcased their work at Finovate, a conference devoted to financial and banking technology. Their presentations, which took place May 14 in San Francisco, are now posted on the Finovate site, which we’ve linked to below. EyeVerify’s Toby Rush, CEO, and Chris Barnett, executive vice …

  • EyeVerify raises $2.3m Series A round, sees use in banking sector

    On the eve of its first Finovate appearance, Kansas City startup EyeVerify today announced it closed a $2.3 million Series A round and will begin offering its mobile authentication software to banks, investment firms, payment systems and others in the banking and financial services sectors. Investors in this round include Think Big Ventures and Nebraska…

  • No fooling, EyeVerify solidifies spoof detection with third patent

    EyeVerify CEO Toby Rush is “excited to lead the charge” in mobile identity protection, and he just got reinforcements via a third patent and third-party accuracy validation. The Kansas City area startup today announced that it has received a patent for spoof detection, which ensures the company’s biometric authentication—using smartphone cameras to image and match…

  • KC tech advocates weigh in on Austin’s addition to the Fiber family

    Kansas City and Austin, Texas, became Google Fiber siblings Tuesday with the announcement that the internet giant would take its ultrafast connectivity south in the middle of next year. Just as was the case when Kansas City heard the news in 2011, the big-picture impact is foggy. Will the unique relationship with Austin build a…

  • EyeVerify sees past original accuracy mark, starts beta

    EyeVerify has even better vision than before as it starts a private beta program to test its mobile authentication software. The Kansas City, Mo. startup whose software scans a user’s “eyeprint”—the blood veins pattern in the whites of one’s eyes—to authenticate their use of a mobile device, recently announced results from a test of its…

  • EyeVerify raises $1.4 million from Think Big Ventures, angel groups

    EyeVerify has closed a $1.4 million seed round, Toby Rush, the startup’s founder and CEO, said Thursday. Think Big Ventures, a Kansas City, Mo.-based venture fund, led the round with an investment of $250,000. The Nebraska Angels and Mid-America Angels also contributed, as did numerous individual investors. As we reported in February, Lenexa, Kan.-based EyeVerify…

  • Think Big Partners opens venture fund, invests in Kansas City startup

    Think Big Partners, a Kansas City, Mo. early-stage technology startup incubator founded in 2009, today announced its venture fund, Think Big Ventures, and its first investment – $250,000 in Kansas City, Mo. startup EyeVerify. Herb Sih, a manager …