BacklotCars taking over full floor of new Lightwell building following $25M funding round 

August 2, 2019  |  Startland News Staff

BacklotCars, Lightwell, images courtesy of Somera Road and AREA Real Estate Advisors

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.

Lightwell building, downtown Kansas City

Lightwell building, downtown Kansas City

“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.”

startland-tip-jar

TIP JAR

Did you enjoy this post? Show your support by becoming a member or buying us a coffee.

Tagged , , , ,
Featured Business
    Featured Founder

      2019 Startups to Watch

        stats here

        Related Posts on Startland News

        Frustrated by the fit, this traveler-turned-swimwear founder crafted 10 pairs himself; now his trunk show is going global

        By Tommy Felts | December 3, 2025

        Opening a popup swimwear store in one of Atlanta’s most upscale malls represented a surge of momentum for Tristan Davis’ high-end brand that began not on a beach or a runway, but in Kansas City’s tight-knit startup community. “We’ve gone from an idea in a handmade bathing suit to a high fashion mall in less…

        Harvesting opportunity: How a KC chicken chain turned a strip of parking lot into its latest ingredient

        By Tommy Felts | December 2, 2025

        Months before snow blanketed Kansas City this week, Todd Johnson transformed a weed-filled, unusable portion of parking lot at his Lenexa restaurant into a flourishing garden that serves up fresh produce used in kitchens at all three of his Strips Chicken and Brewing locations in Johnson County. In its first season, Moonglow Gardens — as…

        AI evolved faster than rules to protect people; this founder wants to code ethics back into the tech

        By Tommy Felts | December 2, 2025

        Amber Stewart sees what many overlook in artificial intelligence, she said: the human cost of unregulated technology that can manifest as anything from sexist and racist outcomes to outright theft from willing and unwilling members of the public. “I’m not afraid of the tech,” said Stewart, founder and CEO of GuardianSync. “I’m afraid of unfettered…

        A romantic hideaway (for you and a book): Entrepreneur’s heart for reading opens store on Independence Square

        By Tommy Felts | December 2, 2025

        America Fontenot didn’t plan to launch her new Independence bookstore on national Small Business Saturday — the busiest shopping weekend of the year — but renovation delays just kept pushing back the opening, she said. So while many small shops were offering Black Friday-adjacent deals to get customers in the front door, Fontenot’s The Littlest…