Top 20 Missouri Startups to Watch in 2026
Missouri's startup ecosystem shows a wide range of industries, from biotechnology to artificial intelligence. The state is home to both new businesses and long-established companies.
There is access to significant funding, with firms like EquipmentShare raising $3.5 billion. The environment includes mature companies like Lead, founded in 1928, and recent startups like Trially, which began in 2023.
Below is our list of 20 Missouri startups worth keeping an eye on.
Failory's Top 10 Picks
Lead Bank builds a Banking as a Service platform that gives fintech companies the tools to create their own financial products. Operating as a nationally chartered bank, they provide the core infrastructure and payment solutions needed to power these new applications.
| Year Founded | 1928 |
| Founders | Erica Khalili, Homam Maalouf, Jacqueline Reses, Ronak Vyas |
| Funding Amount | $170M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | Andreessen Horowitz, Khosla Ventures, Ribbit Capital, ICONIQ Capital, Coatue |
Capacity develops an AI-powered support automation platform that connects an entire tech stack to a single dashboard. Their tools are used to answer questions, automate tedious processes, and build custom solutions for both employees and customers.
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Chris Sims, David Karandish |
| Funding Amount | $203.8M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | Chicago Atlantic Group, Rice Park Capital Management, TVC Capital, Toloka.vc, Equity.com |
Trially builds an AI-native platform that matches, engages, and enrolls patients for clinical trials. Their system achieves this with roughly 95% accuracy and at breakthrough speed, significantly accelerating the recruitment process.
| Year Founded | 2023 |
| Founders | Kyle McAllister, Ramon Prieto, Trevor Welch |
| Funding Amount | $4.7M |
| Startup Size | Founding Team (1-10) |
| Last Funding Status | Seed |
| Top Investors | Gaingels, Flyover Capital, Blu Venture Investors, Alpaca, Redbud VC |
BizzyCar built an AI-driven platform for the automotive industry that automates the complex process of service recall management. Their software simplifies maintenance workflows for dealerships, helping them connect with car owners more effectively.
| Year Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Ryan Maher |
| Funding Amount | $35M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | FM Capital, Dealer Tire |
Wugen develops off-the-shelf cellular therapies to treat both solid tumors and hematologic malignancies. Their work centers on using memory natural killer (NK) cells and CAR-T technologies to build a pipeline of readily available cancer treatments.
| Year Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Matthew Cooper |
| Funding Amount | $287M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | Alpha Wave Global, Sands Capital Ventures, Fidelity, Intermediate Capital Group, Abingworth |
TierPoint offers a range of secure and connected IT platform solutions from its national footprint of data centers. They specialize in helping enterprises manage their complex IT infrastructure through colocation, cloud, and recovery services.
| Year Founded | 2010 |
| Founders | Jerry Kent |
| Funding Amount | $2.1B |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | TA Associates, RedBird Capital Partners, Ontario Teachers' Pension Plan, Macquarie Group, Wafra |
EquipmentShare gives construction companies a unified way to manage their fleet through its T3 operating system. They pair this smart jobsite technology with a nationwide network for equipment rentals, sales, and service.
| Year Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Brad Siegler, Jabbok Schlacks, Jeffrey Lowe, Matthew McDonald, William Schlacks |
| Funding Amount | $3.5B |
| Startup Size | Enterprise Organization (5,001+) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | Gaingels, Insight Partners, Y Combinator, Momenta, Suffolk Technologies |
Edward Jones delivers personalized financial advising, wealth management, and brokerage services through its extensive network of local advisors. The firm focuses on building personal relationships with clients to develop tailored, long-term investment strategies.
| Year Founded | 1922 |
| Founders | Edward D. Jones Sr. |
| Funding Amount | $406.8M |
| Startup Size | Enterprise Organization (5,001+) |
| Last Funding Status | Undisclosed |
| Top Investors | — |
C2N Diagnostics develops advanced blood tests for the early detection of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer's. Their PrecivityAD line of diagnostics helps physicians identify brain amyloid plaques, offering a less invasive alternative to traditional methods.
| Year Founded | 2007 |
| Founders | David Holtzman, Joel B. Braunstein, Randall Bateman |
| Funding Amount | $85.7M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Corporate Round |
| Top Investors | Samsung Bioepis, Samsung BioLogics, Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, Michael J. Fox Foundation, Eisai US |
Geneoscopy develops a noninvasive screening test for colorectal cancer that analyzes biomarkers from stool samples. Their technology provides a patient-friendly alternative to traditional colonoscopies for early detection.
| Year Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Andrew Barnell, Erica Barnell, Yiming Kang |
| Funding Amount | $217.9M |
| Startup Size | Mid-Size Team (51-250) |
| Last Funding Status | Series C |
| Top Investors | Cultivation Capital, LabCorp, Bio-Rad Laboratories, Dorm Room Fund, Arch Grants |
10 Additional Missouri Startups Worth Following
The top 10 are just a small slice of what’s happening across Missouri right now. New companies are popping up in fields as different as AI, education, and fintech.
Combined, this next group of startups has raised over $700 million. Here’s a look at more of the companies that make the state's tech scene so interesting.
| Startup | Industry | Year Founded | Amount Raised | Last Funding Round |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 iCover | AI | 2018 | $5M | Seed |
 Engagedly | Enterprise | 2015 | $1.5M | Private Equity |
 Lumeris | Enterprise | 2000 | $325.3M | Series A |
 PayIt | Fintech | 2013 | $194.5M | Venture Round |
 LPOXY Therapeutics | Healthcare | 2020 | $28M | Series A |
 Varsity Tutors | Education | 2007 | $107M | Grant |
 SentiAR | Media | 2017 | $24.1M | Series B |
 Orange EV | Mobility | 2012 | $35.4M | Grant |
 WaterEquity | Nonprofit | 2017 | $15M | Debt Financing |
 MathBRIX | Nonprofit | 2016 | $1.6M | Grant |
