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
Pure Pitch surprise twist: Techweek competition adds pre-teen innovator to KC startup lineup
In a surprise announcement Monday, organizers of the Pure Pitch Rally announced the third annual pitch competition would feature the Kansas City pre-teen innovator behind the Storm Sleeper. Update: Click here to find out who won big at the Pure Pitch Rally. Julia Luetje — a Barstow School student from Leawood, who at 10 years…
First Friday takeover: Startup Crawl draws 600-plus, showcasing KC, risk-takers, creatives (Photos)
Editor’s note: Startup Crawl and Startland News are both programs of the Kansas City Startup Foundation, though the content below was produced independently by Startland. For more information on the relationship, click here. First Friday revelers and curious minds alike were treated to a five-stop Startup Crawl tour of Kansas City’s entrepreneur community — from…
KC-based OYO Fitness flexes with new exercise app, 10-week workout challenge
The freshly released OYO Personal Gym PRO model helps users avoid common exercise setbacks by offering true resistance and proper pacing of workouts with its new app component, said Graham Ripple. “One of the things that is often common with working out is that they’re not doing a full range of motion or are going…
Novel City Ventures preps accelerator launch for worldwide socio-economic impact
A new accelerator in Kansas City is planning to spur change at a global scale through its inaugural cohort of mission-driven organizations. The Novel City Chamber of Innovation announced this week it has launched the Novel City Ventures Accelerator to fuel the next wave of disruptive thinkers and entrepreneurs. Beginning on Oct. 23, the 12-week…