Most-funded tech startups: $100M-plus investment puts PayIt on the map with C2FO
April 19, 2019 | Startland News Staff
Companies in the Midwest and South are making major plays for investment dollars, according to CB Insights, with Kansas City’s PayIt and C2FO earning spots on the latest map of the nation’s most well-funded tech startups.
“The tech boom has diffused beyond the traditional hotbeds of California, New York, and Massachusetts, across the entire United States,” the CB Insights report said.
The new map assigns top-funded startups in each U.S. state.
Fresh off a more than $100 million investment from New York-based Insight Partners in March, GovTech platform PayIt landed on the report for the first time, representing Missouri. Other investors include Advantage Capital, Royal Street Ventures, Five Elms Capital, and KCRise Fund, according to CB Insights.
Click here to read more about what PayIt’s recent investment news means for Kansas City.
The startup’s focus is on simplifying government to make it more modern, convenient, accessible and transparent — taking out the friction of working with city, county and state entities, said John Thomson, PayIt CEO and co-founder.
“We’ve emerged as the disruptive new tech in a market full of old tech,” he said. “We generate real outcomes, not just for constituents to simply their lives, but real benefits to the governments as well. We’re helping them collect revenue faster, improve compliance, and drive big savings and efficiencies.”
On the Kansas side of the border, Leawood-based FinTech firm C2FO has logged nearly $200 million from Temasek Holdings, Tiger Global Management, Mubadala Investment Co, and Union Square Ventures, Mithril Capital Management, according to the report.
Click here for more on C2FO’s $100 million funding round in 2018.
CB Insights map was created using disclosed equity funding, excluding money from debt, loans, and lines of credit. Only tech companies that have raised at least $1 million of equity funding since January 2014 are considered.
Click here for a closer look at the funding map.
Key takeaways from the CB Insights report include:
- The most well-funded tech startup was California’s Uber, with $15B in disclosed equity funding;
- Companies with the deepest pockets were found in Florida (Magic Leap, $2.4 billion in disclosed equity funding), Illinois (Avant, $655 million), and Georgia (Kabbage, $490 million); and
- The VC-backed startup with the least funding on the list is Oklahoma’s SendaRide with $1.74 million in funding.
Featured Business

2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
KC GIFT launches ‘Vibe the City’ passport to showcase Black-owned arts, entertainment venues
A newly published mini-guide to Black-owned arts and entertainment venues across Kansas City is expected to push community members deeper into the metro’s rich Black business ecosystem, said Brandon Calloway, highlighting a range of cultural and nightlife destinations. “Vibe the City” passports are available now at the G.I.F.T. Business Center at 5008 Prospect Ave.,…
Trially secures $4.7M seed round, launches ‘Margo’ AI solution to clear patient bottleneck
A Kansas City startup’s AI-first platform is expected to save time — and patient lives — thanks to a successful seed round for its clinical trial recruitment tech, explained Kyle McAllister, noting his startup’s solution could help speed up access to treatment by years. Trially, one of Startland News’ 10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in…
She scored music on Netflix and LA’s star-studded stages; now BodaciousThang is getting vulnerable in KC
When Cheyenne Jolene steps on stage in the shoes of her alter ego, the singer-songwriter’s voice carries both raw emotion and unapologetic truth. Performing as BodaciousThang, Jolene blends R&B, hip hop, rock, and soul into what she describes as “genre bending” music. Her songs are steeped in authenticity and storytelling, offering listeners intimate glimpses into…
SNAP cuts are ‘worse than they look on paper’: Food access advocates warn shelves could go bare overnight
Chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant doesn’t mince words about perceptions of the hungry Kansas Citians she serves daily through her award-winning culinary social venture. “These are the people who — if you listen to the rhetoric — are deemed ‘lazy,’” the founder of The Prospect KC’s NourishKC Community Kitchen told Startland News. “We know the narratives being…

