BacklotCars taking over full floor of new Lightwell building following $25M funding round
August 2, 2019 | Startland News Staff
A 20,000-square-foot space in one of Kansas City’s most recently remodeled downtown office buildings will allow BacklotCars room to continue expanding its team, while also impressing high-level targets, said Josh Parsons.
“The location, design and amenities of the project are exactly what is needed to attract the top tech talent to Kansas City,” said Parsons, co-founder and COO at BacklotCars, describing the look and feel of the space at 12th and Main streets. “We are very excited to be moving into the new Lightwell building and feel that it will be a great place for our ever-growing team to call home.”
BacklotCars joins WeWork as top-tier tenants at Lightwell, which boasts 180,000 square feet of contiguous availability, the largest existing block of space in downtown Kansas City, according to its developers. WeWork plans to occupy two floors of the building, formerly branded as City Center.
Now operating from within Plexpod Crossroads, BacklotCars — which offers a wholesale platform for auto dealers — is expected to move into Lightwell later this month. The company announced a $25 million funding round in April.
Click here to read more about the big investment in BacklotCars.
“BacklotCars is exactly the type of forward-thinking technology company that understands what we’re creating at Lightwell,” said Basel Bataineh, vice president at Somera Road, which negotiated the lease alongside AREA Real Estate Advisors. “They’re a major contributor to Kansas City’s growing technology ecosystem and we’re excited to provide them with a home that’ll enable their next phase of growth.”


Featured Business

2019 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Tips for overcoming experience gap, building a diverse workforce
When Ariel Banks graduated from the University of Missouri at Rolla in 2014 with a chemical engineering degree, she felt qualified and eager to jump into her career. Unfortunately, Banks spent nearly two years without any luck in finding a job. She found herself being asked time and time again, the dreaded question: “What is…
Wonder no more: Ruby Jean’s taking juice to Troost
Thirty years after Chris Goode’s grandmother helped drop him off for daycare at Operation Breakthrough on Troost Avenue, the entrepreneur is expanding the juicery that bears her name — Ruby Jean’s — to a site less than a block away. “It’s crazy how life comes full circle,” said Goode, Ruby Jean’s Juicery founder. “I’m 33 now…
5 startups enjoy growth, connections with KCMO innovation partnership
Although the government may be pegged as resistant to change, Kansas City Mayor Sly James wants to flip the script. “On a city level, we aren’t having much help from the state and federal governments sometimes,” James said at the Innovation Partnership Program demo day on Monday at WeWork Corrigan Station. “But, we still have…
With fund now slashed, LaunchKC alumni say MTC vital to early success
PopBookings probably wouldn’t be in business today without the early support — and more critically the investment dollars — of the Missouri Technology Corporation, Erika Klotz said. “It really allowed us to do more quicker,” the PopBookings co-founder and CEO said. “For any startup, speed is everything. It allowed us to get credibility right out…

