Two years after top KC startup’s sale, Zego (and its new owner) acquired for nearly $1B
June 18, 2021 | Startland News Staff
The company that acquired Kansas City-based Zego in 2019 — and liked the real estate tech startup’s brand so much it changed its own identity to match — has itself now been purchased by a global “powerhouse” in an all-cash transaction valued at $925 million.
Zego delivers its full value stack through a cloud native SaaS platform to enable seamless property management and best-in-class resident engagement and commerce experiences.
The company has significant scale with over 7,000 property management customers representing more than 11 million residential units in the United States utilizing its comprehensive real estate technology platform.
Through its integrated payments offering, Zego facilitates approximately $30 billion in payments annually in a market with a volume opportunity that exceeds $1 trillion.
Zego — formerly PayLease — announced the acquisition by Global Payments, a leading worldwide provider of payment technology and software solutions, June 10. (The 18-year-old San Diego company had rebranded to “Zego” about nine months after absorbing the exiting Kansas City startup, which was originally built in Kansas City by co-founders Adam Blake and Clay Coffman as a solution in the smart apartment space.)
“Today marks a monumental moment in Zego (Powered by PayLease) history as we embark on our next exciting chapter,” Zego representatives said in a press release after this month’s acquisition. “This transaction extends Global Payments’ leadership in software into the real estate vertical.”
Global Payments is headquartered in Georgia with nearly 24,000 employees worldwide.
The deal is not expected to disrupt services for current customers or residents, the company said, noting it pushes Zego closer to international expansion.
As a co-founder, Blake shifted into an advisor role with PayLease until December 2019 before taking time off to spend with his family and serve a handful of early stage companies in advisory roles.
Coffman served as director of product management for Zego (Powered by PayLease) until July 2020, moving into an advisor position with the company until December 2020.
“I think we did a good job showing outside investors there are venture-backable companies in KC,” Blake told Startland News in 2019. “We had a handful that invested in Kansas City for the first time.”
An inaugural Techstars Kansas City graduate founded as “CasaiQ,” the Kansas City-built Zego’s early investors ran the spectrum of the local and national investment scene: The KCRise Fund, Techstars Ventures, Zoloz CEO Toby Rush, and ShotTracker co-founder Davyeon Ross.
Featured Business
2021 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
DivvyHQ lauded as one of industry’s best at content marketing conference
Kansas City-based software platform DivvyHQ nabbed two top awards at the Content Marketing World convention earlier this month in Cleveland, Ohio. For the second consecutive year, the startup received the audience choice award for the top content creation and workflow platform from the Content Marketing Institute — an industry leader with which DivvyHQ has an established…
Video: Hammerspace fueling maker community through supportive network
Since its launch in 2011, Hammerspace has served as a community space for hundreds of Kansas Citians. Unlike coworking spaces with traditional desks and chairs, Hammerspace gives members access to lasers, 3-D printers, sewing stations, radio components, and equipment for welding, sculpting, woodworking and other art forms. In April, Hammerspace moved out of its Brookside…
Glassdoor ranks KC No. 3 in nation for jobs; software engineers wanted
The Midwest is hiring. And Kansas City stands out among the best in the region, according to a new study. Popular job search site Glassdoor released a list of the top cities for jobs, ranked by affordability, hireability and employee job satisfaction. Kansas City nabbed a No. 3 spot on the list, following Pittsburgh at…
Hammerspace grows maker mission on Emanuel Cleaver Boulevard
Dave Dalton is a maker — a blacksmith, a bladesmith, a woodworker, an artist and a jack of all trades. More than just a sum of his skills, being a maker is all about perspective, said Dalton, founder of Hammerspace Community Workshop. And when a friend dared him to give his tip jar an upgrade, Dalton…