KC’s top emerging business just exited; How a deal forged in the stands at Arrowhead rewrites the code on Black women in tech

No stereotypes here, Tammy Buckner said, announcing a merger between Techquity Digital and a rising Kansas City-born startup that’s expected to elevate Black tech in the region — and the women in its ranks. 

“[There’s an idea that] ‘Black women can’t work together.’ … I think this proves that we can,” Buckner, founder and CEO of Techquity Digital, said of a recently inked deal to merge the enterprise technology provider with The Market Base — an on-demand marketing platform led by her friend and startup community peer, Jannae Gammage. 

“We can come together and make changes in our community,” she continued. 

Tammy Buckner, Techquity Digital

Jannae Gammage, The Market Base; photo by Marco Graves

The merger, from which clients are already benefiting, Buckner and Gammage told Startland News, will see the pair leading the combined companies — now branded TechquityBase. 

Buckner retains her title as CEO while Gammage serves as COO on a temporary basis, set to eventually transition out of the company and onto her next role as a serial entrepreneur. 

Financial details of the deal were not disclosed.

“Tammy’s company is a software and app development company. [By combining that with marketing services] we’re going to target tech startups and create an entire pipeline-type solution,” Gammage explained, detailing the TechquityBase approach that will see clients serviced from inception to website, waiting list and app build out to launching and marketing a product and beyond. 

“Tammy is phenomenal and she’ll be able to push the company even further,” she added. 

Click here to read more about the beginnings of The Market Base a Black-owned, woman-owned, queer-owned, veteran-owned tech company. 

Andrew Dowis, ProAthlete, with Jannae Gammage and Milad Ghasempour, The Market Base; 2021 Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce Small Business Celebration; Startland News photo by Channa Steinmetz

Named emerging business of the year by the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce and one of Startland News’ 10 Kansas City Startups to Watch in 2021, The Market Base and Gammage have caught the eye of investors and community leaders beyond the borders of the two-state region.

Such a reputation is part of what attracted Buckner to the potential of a merger, ultimately proposing the idea to Gammage in the stands at Arrowhead Stadium last fall during a Kansas City Chiefs football game. 

“I wasn’t looking for anything. I was just, as usual, heads down, working. … We went to a Chiefs game and it came up in discussion and by the next week we had a [letter of intent] for merger or acquisition,” Gammage said, noting support from countless stakeholders in Kansas City have contributed to the success of the company and ultimately the opportunity to pursue the merger. 

“We worked out all the kinks and had some discussions about what it would look like — but really came together on how we could continue to serve [our community] in our own way by combining these companies.”

The chance to better serve the Kansas City startup community — both as an example of collaboration between Black and woman-owned businesses and as a powerhouse tech company — stands out among the largest opportunities of the merger for both Gammage and Buckner, they said. 

“We definitely want to show up for the startup community, the tech community, entrepreneur community — which I’ve always been a part of,” Buckner said. “We want to be able to be there for them in a more tech [focused capacity]. A lot of times startups can’t figure out [their needs], they don’t have the funding. We want to be there to support them and be the one they come to for those services.”

Beyond its ability to create change and strengthen Kansas City’s tech space, the merger feels even more important (and opportunity rich) with Black History Month just around the corner, the pair added, noting the impact it could have on underrepresented youth who participate in programming offered by WeCodeKC, a workforce readiness non-profit founded by Buckner that teaches coding and other STEM-focused skills. 

“Our whole purpose is exposing technology in underserved and underrepresented communities so we can drive [the creation of] a diverse tech pipeline. This is exactly that,” Buckner said. 

“The youth that we attract and impact, they see this huge merger and there’s other services now that they can be a part of like social media management and marketing. Now they get a chance to touch that industry and not just technology.”

Such a reality, Buckner said, has been one of the greatest benefits of merging the companies. 

“It’s opened up doors to areas that they normally don’t get a chance to be a part of. They don’t get a chance to see people that look like them in this space,” she said. 

“Now it opens doors for them to say, ‘Wow, I see people that look like me. I see two Black women that are running businesses and that came together. Now I see all of these services. I can run my own business. I can start my own business.’ They see that now and that’s so important.”

This story is possible thanks to support from the Ewing Marion Kauffman Foundation, a private, nonpartisan foundation that works together with communities in education and entrepreneurship to create uncommon solutions and empower people to shape their futures and be successful.

For more information, visit www.kauffman.org and connect at www.twitter.com/kauffmanfdn and www.facebook.com/kauffmanfdn