Two Kansas City companies shared their stories with local audience members this week at 1 Million Cups.

SeekEdgar

This cloud-based search engine allows users to find SEC filings (financial and nonfinancial) within seconds. Its technology is similar to other well-known search engines such as LexisNexis, but its usability sets it apart.

SeekEdgar’s creator and owner, Raj Srivastava, calls this business a product of his third life. Before creating this search engine, Srivastava first earned his Ph.D. in physics and later in accounting.

In three years, the search engine company has amassed a database of more than 14 million SEC filings, and 20 million documents from 1994 to president, with updates happening daily. Users can search by keywords, timeframe and other details. Once the search results pop up, users can download the data into an Excel spreadsheet.

Srivastava says his biggest struggle has been branding and getting the word out about his product. While he’s gained interest from renowned universities such as Harvard and the University of Chicago, Srivastava is looking for help researching other businesses avenues as well.

Moving forward, Srivastava says, he’s looking for marketing help and business guidance. His team is also working on gathering more international data to add to the SeekEdgar search engine.

Pawdentify

Doug Danforth, the mastermind behind Pawdentify, presented for the second time at 1 Million Cups in Kansas City. Since his last presentation in March 2015, the company has rebranded and released a new product.

Pawdentify stemmed from a problem Danforth experienced seven years ago while trying to attach a new ID tag to his dog’s collar. It was nearly impossible to get the tag on without damaging or hurting Danforth’s fingernails, and he realized he probably wasn’t the only pet owner who experienced this annoyance.

A few months later, Danforth quit his day job and started working on his new company. The first product, called Link-It, uses a patented locking mechanism that allows pet owners to easily attach ID tags to pet collars. The Link-It is made of Kevlar, the same material used in bulletproof vests. It is more comfortable for pets, lighter and less noisy.

Just this week, Pawdentify released its latest product━specialized pet tags that are more durable, more comfortable and easier to read. These specialized tags work seamlessly with the Link-It product.

Pawdentify worked with a team of five local vets to create these products, which are designed to keep more pets safe should they ever run away or get lost.

The company has started a Kickstarter campaign to help it obtain the materials needed to create and manufacture the products.

Danforth says Pawdentify is looking to get more support on its Kickstarter campaign and to increase visibility on social media.