After St. Joseph tech firm acquisition, Online Tech expands to KC
April 20, 2017 | Meghan LeVota
Ann Arbor-based Online Tech has acquired a St. Joseph, Mo. cloud firm, paving the way for its expansion into Kansas City.
The cloud security company announced Thursday that it purchased St. Joseph-based Echo Cloud, which provides colocation and cloud hosting services.
Echo Cloud CEO Bill Severn said he’s pleased to be joining the Online Tech team.
“I believe the values we hold match Online Tech’s very well, and I think this will be a great partnership moving forward,” Severn said in a release. “Online Tech has been a leader in compliance for many years,I’m pleased we can now offer HIPAA- or PCI-compliant data hosting to our existing customers here in Kansas City.”
Allowing for easier service management, Severn added that the companies will combine their existing services into Online Tech’s client platform. Wanting to tap the Kansas City market, Online Tech was interested in Echo Cloud for its ability to grow in the Midwest.
With offices in Michigan and Indiana, CEO of Online Tech CEO Yan Ness is excited to expand the firm’s product line.
“I’m very pleased with this deal,” Ness said in a release. “We really like the Kansas City market. There’s lots of demand that we think is underserved, and this is a great opportunity to provide companies in the area with our secure, compliant hybrid IT services.”
Severn, who declined to disclose the amount of the acquisition, will no longer serve as CEO for Echo Cloud, but will stay on the board of directors for Online Tech. The firm will maintain its offices in St. Joseph, Mo.

2017 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
‘Follow the smoke and look for the Ferris wheel’: Chef J BBQ set to join Pennway Point (and Arrowhead)
Walking through the West Bottoms, the smell of smoke and spice will lead a hungry wanderer to one of Kansas City’s emerging barbecue hot spots: Chef J BBQ. Restauranter and pitmaster Justin Easterwood, better known as “Chef J,” has made a name for himself — now that hard work has earned Chef J BBQ a…
Overland Park Farmers Market vendor suspended over anti-semitic social media posts
Editor’s note: The following story was first published the Shawnee Mission Post. Click here to read the original story or here to subscribe to the independent Johnson County news source. Content warning: This story includes hate speech and disturbing language. The Overland Park Farmers’ Market has suspended a first-year vendor after his anti-semitic and hate-filled social media posts…
Flint Group’s new strategic partner invests in taking the home services platform national
SEATTLE — A newly announced strategic investment from the global firm General Atlantic is expected to help a home services platform with Kansas City leadership enhance its business offerings and accelerate its growth, ultimately toward scaling the company nationally. Founded in 2019 by industry veterans Collin Hathaway and Trevor Flannigan, Flint Group has quickly expanded…
