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Results so far:

(based on 160 proof-of-concept projects funded for area startups)

  • Total amount awarded: $2,789,724
  • $154M in follow-on funding
  • 975 new jobs created, more than $117M in sales since inception

Read the UMKC Innovation Center's First Impact Report

Latest Updates

Welcome the Newest 9 Comeback KC Ventures Fellows

May 13, 2022
Images of the founders of the 9 newest Comeback KC Ventures Companies

Meet the newest Comeback KC Ventures Fellows who have received support.

MTC Awards Two MOBEC Grants to Fuel KC Innovation

Mar 28, 2022
Image of a large skyscraper against the night sky

MTC has awarded more than $1 million in grant funding to support startups and entrepreneurship via its MOBEC program. Digital Sandbox KC and LaunchKC are among the seven statewide awardees, which will use the grants to advance technology, innovation and jobs in Missouri.

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How it works

The Sandbox provides critical proof-of-concept funding, mentoring and connections to help founders build viable innovations ready for follow-on funding. The Sandbox may cover expenses for project consultants, market research, equipment and other market validation, prototyping and beta testing needs. Digital Sandbox KC is a program of the UMKC Innovation Center’s Technology Venture Studio.

Learn More

Get Involved

Exceptional ideas. Extraordinary collaboration. We need your help in this community-wide effort.

Help our community build our next great companies. Be a mentor. Provide expertise. Try something new. Invest. Get in the Sandbox.

  • Become a Mentor

    Use your know-how to evaluate opportunities, grow ideas, and to find funding to help companies grow.

    More info »

  • Search Resources

    You can search more than 200 business resource organizations in the Kansas City area to find the right resource to reach your next milestone.

    More info »

  • Find Your Idea

    Our partner program, Whiteboard2Boardroom, connects entrepreneurs and established businesses to new technologies available for licensing at institutions in the bi-state region. Can you take one of them into the Sandbox?

    More info »

Corporate Partners

Support from corporate development teams at Sprint, VML, UMB, Hallmark and Cerner offers Digital Sandbox KC participants connections to industry experts, mentors, potential customers and follow-on funding resources

Additional partners are welcome. Contact us to find out more.

  • VML, one of the world's leading digital marketing agencies, delivers creative solutions at the intersection of marketing and technology.

  • With headquarters in Kansas City, Mo., privately-held Hallmark Cards, Inc. creates products sold in 38,000 retail stores across the U.S. and in 100 countries worldwide.

More Partners »