New Recruit self-service event staffing platform puts KC’s PopBookings in the big game
February 18, 2019 | Austin Barnes
While the Kansas City Chiefs might have narrowly missed their shot at the 2019 Super Bowl, the city was well represented as a source for event staffing at the game, revealed Erika Klotz, noting the power of Recruit, a new product from KC-based PopBookings.
A client used the self-service platform to book 288 shifts for the event, the PopBookings co-founder told Startland ahead of Recruit’s national debut and official launch this week.
PopBookings By the Numbers
Founded: 2014
Founders: Erika Klotz and Scott Hanson
Number of employees: 20
Capital raised to date: Just under $5 million
Designed with the unique needs of startups in mind, Recruit is a marketplace tool that allows companies to book talent — using a format similar to service booking platforms such as Airbnb, said Klotz, CEO of PopBookings.
“We saw a market that was extremely fragmented and we wanted to start with the most painful problem,” she said of the development process for Recruit. “Helping [companies] streamline that process was a big step toward that.”
Recruit’s tailor-made setup helps smaller scale startups and legacy companies find and recruit talent without paying a monthly fee, Klotz noted.
“It’s completely self service. You can create a job, post it for free, and pay only when you book someone,” she said.
Recruit also offers companies a nationwide talent pool with expansion into Canada, she added.
Click here to explore using Recruit.
With the launch of Recruit, PopBookings will — for the first time since it was founded by Klotz and Scott Hanson — explore new territory, Klotz said.
“We’ve been kind of a one product company — more of a management tool like Quickbooks — where you can manage your event staffing efforts,” she said. “[Recruit] is really good for kind of a broader market need where event staffing really isn’t the core of your business, but it might be a need of of your business.”
Recruit has emerged at a time of increased momentum for PopBookings, Klotz said.
It has helped connect more than 200,000 users in 8,600 cities with $23 million worth of jobs since March 2016, she said.
Such metropolitan areas as New York, Los Angeles, and Chicago continue to be top markets for Pop Bookings, but the event staffing space holds wide appeal as tourism grows nationwide, Klotz said.
“We feel very confident that any company, in any city, needing staff — they can find it!” she said.

2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
JE Dunn spinout Site 1001 raises millions more from local investors
A Kansas City-based tech firm that’s created a smart buildings platform recently raised another significant batch of venture capital funding. Site 1001 — a technology spin out from Kansas City construction giant JE Dunn Construction — raised $6 million to boost its engineering, research and sales efforts. The round was led by JE Dunn Construction…
Pure Pitch Rally palms $20K to KC startups
Kansas City already has the right lineup for its own tech rally, Karen Fenaroli said. “We have the investors, we have the start-up talent,” Fenaroli, founder of Fenaroli & Associates and organizer of Pure Pitch Rally, said. A pitch competition next month attempts to connect the two, offering winning entrepreneurs an opportunity to nab $1,000…
Indie craft, maker fair Strawberry Swing returning Sunday with KC love
One of the largest indie craft fairs in the Midwest is expected to draw thousands of Kansas Citians to discover local makers and creators. Strawberry Swing’s summer event, set for Sunday at the Nelson-Atkins Museum of Art lawn, aims to showcase vendors from Kansas City, as well as parts of Arkansas, Iowa, Oklahoma and more.…
‘Software is eating the world,’ LaunchCode instructor appeals to aspiring techies
Ambitious techies in the Kansas City area might soon have an opportunity to realize their aspirations with a course coming soon from the nonprofit LaunchCode. Based in St. Louis but with an office in Kansas City, LaunchCode aims to grow the tech workforce of select communities by offering programs to educate those eyeing a career…
