Event-staffing tech firm Pop Bookings opens seed round at $250K
June 8, 2015 | Bobby Burch
Kansas City-based Pop Bookings is scoring local love from angel investors as it hopes to bolster its seed round to further develop its online event-staffing platform.
Pop Bookings CEO Erika Klotz
A recent graduate of business accelerator SparkLabKC, Pop Bookings opened its round in April at $250,000, with lead investments from Kansas City-area angel investors. Pop Bookings CEO Erika Klotz said that SparkLab’s demo day in early April garnered it attention from the investors, and that more in the area are starting to line up as a result.
“It’s good news for the Kansas City startup scene to know real investors that are interested in seed funding are coming up to these demo days,” Klotz said. “They really believe in our product.”
Pop Bookings created an online platform on which staffing agencies can hire and manage temporary labor for specific events. The platform also allows temporary workers to find opportunities with various agencies. For example, if Red Bull wanted to find talent to hand out its beverages at a NASCAR event, Pop Bookings connects agencies with the talent to fill the need.
“What we’re doing is taking that process and making it specific to what they do and it’s been a crazy success,” Klotz said. “It’s an industry not many people know exists, therefore technology hasn’t touched it. We come in and say, ‘We know what you do and make your life easier,’ and it’s been an easy sell all things considered.”
Founded in 2014, Pop Bookings now has six full-time staff members and clients across the country. The company plans to use its new funding to develop a mobile application to better connect talent with staffing agencies.
Pop Bookings COO and co-founder Scott Hanson said that the area’s support has been vital to his company’s early success.
“The startup community in Kansas City has made a night and day difference for us,” Hanson said. “There are other companies and people to bounce ideas off of and there’s a sense of community. That’s really important when you’re feeling down about your company… someone else seeing success can help pull you back up. We’re all in the struggle together.”
Featured Business
2015 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Alexa, show me the winners: Storytailor leads Pure Pitch Rally prize tally ahead of tech launch
Storytailor’s marquee Pure Pitch Rally win comes at the perfect time for the Kansas City startup, its founders said. They’re preparing to roll out a new immersive storytelling platform through a partnership with Amazon’s Alexa+ next year — a move expected to bring their tech to more than 200 million Prime users. “It’s the most…
LISTEN: How the Midwest opened this German agtech company’s eyes to opportunity in the US
On this episode of our 12-part Plug and Play Topeka podcast series, we connect with Débora Moretti, co-CEO of NutriSen — a Berlin-based agtech startup building real-time molecular sensors to measure nutrient concentrations in plants directly on the field. Moretti shares how her team, alongside co-founder Tobias Vöpel, is merging biosensor technology, data-driven insights and…
Crossing lanes: KC Streetcar collaborators back aboard for expansion, dropping new merch, anthem
Opening the extended KC Streetcar line Friday completes a loop for creatives whose collaborations with the popular public transit system first emerged nearly a decade ago along Main Street — a time when Kansas City’s surging vibrancy helped curb streetcar doubters. “For us, it’s always been about representing Kansas City — the people, the culture,…
André’s planted its flag in KC 70 years ago; chocolatier says that’s just a taste of what’s to come
Nearly 5,000 miles from Switzerland, a small group toured the inner sanctum of an iconic 70-year-old Kansas City company — a family-run brand that helped redefine accessible luxury in the Midwest, one Swiss chocolate-covered almond at a time. “What people get excited about André’s is the legacy, that we take a lot of pride in…