Idle Smart posts Series A round with KCRise Fund, multimillion-dollar investment support
October 24, 2018 | Austin Barnes
A multi-million dollar investment round has Kansas City-grown Idle Smart revving its engine and accelerating toward rapid growth in 2019, revealed Jeff Lynch, company president.
“I think it’s a reflection of what the team has been able to create over the past few years,” Lynch said of Idle Smart’s completion of a milestone Series A funding effort.
The round was led by Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, but also included significant support from the KCRise Fund and Service Provider Capital, he said. Stout Street Capital and Clean Energy Fund have also invested in the company, according to online Crunchbase reports.
Known for its patented, energy-saving technology that automates engine start-stops of fleet vehicles, Lynch said the cash infusion will greatly contribute to the internal growth of the company.
“Our business to date commands that we need to build, grow, and enhance our team in advance of what we think will be even better years in 2019, 2020, and 2021,” he said.
Idle Smart’s personnel upgrades will focus on technical expertise, U.S. and international sales forces, and internal account management functions, Lynch added.
“We think it’s a positive sign and a positive year mark in terms of our future opportunities and potential for success,” he said.
In addition to internal growth, Idle Smart is now in the process of relocating its offices from the Kansas City Startup Village to Plexpod Westport Commons, Lynch said.
Idle Smart was one of the first companies to inhabit the startup village –– a series of homes nestled within the 45th Street and State Line Road neighborhoods that first welcomed Google Fiber, which came to Kansas City in 2012.
Featured Business

2018 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
JE Dunn leads $5M round in a local, ‘skunkworks’ tech spinout
One of Kansas City’s top corporations has led a $5 million investment round in a local tech firm that helps manage the torrents of paperwork associated with building maintenance and management. Kansas City-based JE Dunn led the Series A round in Site 1001, a software company that spun out of the construction giant to digitize…
Growing tech startup Campus Eye wants to make schools safer
College campuses aren’t the safest place to be. Nearly one in four female college students in the U.S. have experienced sexual assault. In the same study, 11 percent of female college students said they’ve experienced rape. And since 2013, there has been more than 76 instances of gun violence on college campuses. Campus Eye founder…
UK firm lured by Kansas City’s charm, opportunity
Born in South Africa and a resident of Great Britain for over a decade, Fred Hefer, CEO of Pomerol Partners, never would have guessed he’d be moving his family to Kansas City. “Really? This place in the middle of America?” Hefer said. “With the tornados and the story about Dorothy?” Hefer said his wife and…
