Two Kansas City area firms, PEQ and Dunami, have been selected for investment rounds from the KCRise Fund, a venture capital sidecar fund that supports early stage investment in Kansas City-based companies.

The KCRise Fund is an initiative of KC Rising, a vision by business and civic leaders in the bi-state area to focus on  globally competitive sectors, human capital, innovation and entrepreneurship. In October, two KC area companies, SpiderOak and Innara Health, were recipients of KCRise’s first round of 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.

PEQ is an Internet of Things (IoT) service enabler that connects home security and appliances to a user’s smart device. PEQ’s commercial user Operating System for IoT gives users an automated home protection system that may be controlled remotely through an app.

“We are 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 deliver key insights to companies for growth, branding, and other objectives.

“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.