The KCRise Fund, a venture capital sidecar fund with the mission of encouraging early stage investment in Kansas City-based companies, announced today that it has selected two KC area firms, PEQ and Dunami, for investment.
“The KCRise Fund is ending its first year strong with these most recent commitments, and a third soon to be announced, bringing our total 2016 commitment to more than $2 million,” said Darcy Howe, KCRise Fund manager. “We are so proud to support some of the Kansas City region’s most promising entrepreneurs and their companies and look forward to finding additional investments in 2017.”
PEQ is an Internet of Things (IoT) service enabler. The company has launched the industry’s first commercial user Operating System for IoT and serves as a strategic enabler for large enterprises who are in pursuit of the transformative value IoT delivers.
“We are delighted and honored to have the opportunity to invite the KCRise Fund into the PEQ ownership structure. Kansas City is clearly a hub for IoT and to have the community involved directly through KCRise is a great advantage to us,” said Scott Ford, CEO of PEQ.
Dunami provides a big data analytics platform designed to give companies the insights they need to build their business, drive their brand, and secure their interests.
“At Dunami, we are excited to have the opportunity to partner with KCRise and local investors as we work to revolutionize the way organizations leverage social media and their own data to grow their business,” said Dunami CEO, Pat Butler.
Dave Zyer, partner with OCA Ventures, a venture capital firm based in Chicago, is also investing in Dunami. He said, “OCA Ventures is very pleased to have KCRise join the Dunami investor group. The increasing big data challenges and opportunities for today¹s businesses make Dunami¹s technology platform a critical part of creating an information advantage in today¹s competitive environment.”
The KCRise Fund announced February 29, 2016 as an initiative of KC Rising which is creating economic prosperity for the KC region through a focus on its globally competitive sectors, human capital, and innovation & entrepreneurship. The KCRise Fund is led by Darcy Howe with board members Toby Rush, founder of EyeVerify and Ron LeMay with Open Air Equity Partners. Earlier this year, the fund announced its first two investments in SpiderOak and Innara Health.
To qualify as a KCRise Fund portfolio company, the company must have high growth potential; reside or have substantial operations between Manhattan, Kansas and Columbia, Missouri; be seeking at least $1 million in a Series A round and have an approved venture capital firm investor in the funding round.
About PEQ
https://www.mypeq.com/
About Dunami
http://www.dunami.com/
About KCRise Fund
The KCRise Fund is a sidecar fund that co-invests with institutional VC investors in early stage companies based in the Greater Kansas City Area. This model centralizes the due diligence needed to vet a new entrepreneurial venture.