BacklotCars completes historic $425M exit, joining ‘power and fierce entrepreneurial spirit’ of KAR Global
November 13, 2020 | Startland News Staff
The $425 million acquisition of Kansas City-based BacklotCars is complete, nearly two months to the day it was announced.
“There is so much energy and excitement around this combination with our employees and with our customers,” Justin Davis, president and co-founder of BacklotCars, said in a release announcing the milestone acquisition’s completion Thursday by KAR Global.
“I’m proud of what the BacklotCars team has built and the thousands of strong dealer partnerships we’ve developed over the past six years,” Davis continued. “And I can’t wait to introduce the innovation, power and fierce entrepreneurial spirit of KAR Global to our culture, our products and our customer base.”
Believed to be the biggest exit on record within Kansas City’s startup ecosystem, BacklotCars announced the sale in September and its founders intentions to continue working within the company — which KAR will leave running in the metro.
Since 2014, BacklotCars has amassed a network of customers across 46 states. It has scaled its operations and marketplace, leveraging technology to deliver upon the mission of making wholesale easy, the company previously told Startland News.
After significant expansion in 2019, the company’s growth accelerated in 2020 as COVID-19 forced the automotive industry to take a digital-first approach to wholesale.
Justin Davis, BacklotCars; Back2KC 2018
Click here to learn more about BacklotCars.
BacklotCars joins a fleet of digital marketplaces within the KAR portfolio, including TradeRev, ADESA.com, and OPENLANE — the largest private label platform for exclusive, off-lease inventory in North America.
“We are laser-focused on providing dealers with the most efficient, convenient and economically advantageous digital marketplaces to sell and source inventory,” said Peter Kelly, president of KAR Global.
BacklotCars is set to help the company accelerate company growth into new markets while keeping a steady hand on the wheel of operations in existing cities, KAR said in a release.
The startup employs 187 full-time employees, 90 based in Kansas City. KAR has no plans to move BacklotCars from its local headquarters — which it established in the renovated Lightwell building last fall.
2020 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Top 10 Kansas City startups to watch in 2017
Kansas City witnessed one of its biggest startup successes in 2016 with EyeVerify’s massive exit. Stories like this bring Kansas City’s potential to the foreground. It validates that not only building a wildly lucrative business is possible but also that the area community can help make it possible. While undoubtedly a triumph, EyeVerify is but…
Mid-America Angels invested $3.6M in record-breaking 2016
For the second consecutive year, the Mid-America Angel Network posted a record-breaking year of investing. In 2016, the Kansas City-based network invested $3.6 million via 15 deals in startups, topping its 2015 totals of $2.8 million in nine investments. “What you see here is the result of several years of work, not just one,“ MAA…
Digital Sandbox’s newest cohort: Hip hop health startup, moving app
Digital Sandbox KC on Friday announced its support of two new Kansas City tech firms. Led by entrepreneur Jeff Shackelford, the Kansas City-based incubator welcomed H3TV and MovinHouz to its program. Digital Sandbox invests up to $25,000 in area businesses for specific projects that help the firms secure additional funding. The organization has now supported…
George Brooks: Two words that can change your business
Some of the biggest moments in any business start with two simple words: What if? After these words, great opportunity can follow. Businesses have started, discoveries made, and movements ignited around this simple curiosity. These words help find the right problems to solve. They help discover the best solutions. They may lead to failure or…