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
Cherry catches history with new Chiefs playoff collection — a first for a female designer
An exclusive apparel collection from the Chiefs and fashion-forward brand Cherry is taking the field ahead of Kansas City’s latest playoff appearance. And the woman wearing the cherry-red captain’s patch: a familiar face within Kansas City sports and entrepreneurship. “This collaboration means the world to me,” said Thalia Cherry, who founded Cherry Co. in 2012.…
Score a high-end ‘Kingdom Coat’ in time for KC’s love story with the Chiefs; popup sews in fashion designer’s own lifelong fandom
Kansas City fashion designer Christian Michael Shuster’s latest collection is skipping the runway and hitting the gridiron, he shared. The lead designer and president of the christianMICHAEL fashion label — known for his outerwear and signature diamond-quilted fabric — has kicked off his “Kingdom Coats” collection just in time for the NFL playoffs and the…
Mildred’s new South Plaza spot serves brothers opportunity to scale brand’s cozy legacy
It already has one of downtown Kansas City’s best breakfast sandwiches. Now Mildred’s is opening another home-spun spot in the South Plaza neighborhood. Mildred’s — a breakfast, brunch and lunch operation with locations downtown and in the Crossroads — plans a 7 a.m. Friday opening at 5060 Main St., in the former Mission Taco Joint…
Irish favorite won’t reopen after chef’s killing; Brady & Fox could never be replicated, building owner says
The restaurant space previously home to East Brookside’s Brady & Fox is now available for lease, its owner confirmed, noting the building has been dark since the shooting death of beloved Kansas City chef Shaun Brady, a steadfast leader within the local Irish community. “We’ve been working with the family and we have all agreed…
