PayIt rings in new year with expanded executive team, repeat GovTech 100 honors
January 13, 2020 | Startland News Staff
GovTech leader PayIt continues its rapid growth after a massive 2019 funding year, thanks to the hiring of another key C-suite executive — a 20-year veteran in enterprise software sales and leadership.
The move puts Neil Graham in the role of PayIt’s first chief revenue officer, and brings the executive team of the industry award-winning Kansas City startup to six. Graham began work Monday, arriving most recently from San Diego-based Tealium, where he served as vice president of Americas, helping scale and grow company revenue from $18 million to more than $100 million.
“As we got to know those that have worked for and with Neil, we grew more confident that Neil was someone of high aptitude, high integrity, highly competitive, and a leader that excels at delivering highly-valuable, digital transformation solutions to clients,” said John Thomson, PayIt CEO and co-founder.
Graham is expected to drive PayIt’s continued scaling and expansion of digital government solutions within the U.S. and abroad throughout 2020 and beyond. The startup already has doubled in size since December of 2018, according to Thomson.
Before his five years at Tealium, Graham ran the western sales territories for Jive Software and spent nine years with Salesforce, both in a sales leadership role and as a top performer in the enterprise sales space.
In addition to Thomson and Graham, PayIt’s leadership also includes Mike Plunkett, COO and CFO; Richard Garbi, chief technical officer; Alex Otrezov, chief marketing officer; and Mike Wons, chief client officer.
Otrezov, a former Uber marketing head, was hired in 2019, a few months after PayIt secured a more than $100 million investment from New York-based Insight Partners.
Click here to read more about PayIt’s 2019 investment news.
Graham’s hiring comes on the heels of PayIt earning a fourth-consecutive spot on the GovTech 100 list — “a compendium of 100 companies focused on, making a difference in, and selling to state and local government agencies across the United States.”
Click here to check out the full GovTech 100 list.
“The PayIt platform brings the potential to transform how government delivers secure, omni-channel, and easy-to-use experiences to hundreds of millions of citizens like you and me every day,” said Graham. “After spending time evaluating new market opportunities, PayIt became clearly differentiated for me due to its rock solid technology, rapid disruptive growth, and it’s world-class team. I’m elated to join the company and help significantly build, scale and grow the go-to-market operations.”
Featured Business

2020 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
LG Electronics tech expert: Kansas City a smart home for corporate-startup collaboration (IXKC photos)
Tech industry giants see significant potential in the ideas being created in startup hubs like Kansas City, an LG Electronics leader told a crowd gathered this week at Homebase. “A lot of startup companies can bring innovation to the front. Big companies like ours, sometimes we’re so busy that we lose track of that activity,”…
5-year-old shark bite survivor returns to the ocean with help of SharkOFF wearable, founder says
A sweet taste of its do-good mission has Kansas City-based SharkOff eyeing new ideas, explained Shea Geist, recounting the tale of 5-year-old Violet Jalil’s journey back into the ocean. “Several months ago we got a big order from [Violet’s mom,] Jessica [Veatch], and she commented when she put in her order, talking about her daughter…
StoryUp levels up again: KC-area VR startup secures spot at Apple camp for women-led tech
It’s the ultimate “nerdy” thing for tech entrepreneurs, Sarah Hill said as Columbia-based startup, StoryUP joins an Apple summer cohort — specifically designed to support women-led companies. “To have direct communication, to troubleshoot in an area of media that’s difficult to create. It is valuable for us and we’re honored and we’re really excited about…
You’ll soon have 20+ smart devices in your home; How many will steal your data?
Consumers of smart technology need to be wary of most of the lesser-known brands in retail stores, said Scott Ford. “Most likely they’re using a platform architecture that sits on a foreign market, sending your data to who knows where, without the protections that are common in the U.S,” said Ford, CEO of Pepper IoT,…


