BacklotCars co-founder set to be honored as UMKC’s regional Entrepreneur of the Year
September 22, 2022 | Startland News Staff
A founder who helped drive one of the metro’s biggest startup exits is expected to be heralded in October as UMKC’s Kansas City Entrepreneur of the Year.
Justin Davis, co-founder and CEO of BacklotCars, will take the stage Oct. 12 alongside five other honorees — business leaders who have shaped entrepreneurship, according to officials at the Henry W. Bloch School of Management at the University of Missouri-Kansas City.
In fall 2020, BacklotCars posted a then-record $425 million exit, selling the Kansas City-headquartered auto platform to KAR Global.
“What we’ve shown in Kansas City is that we can build something really, really great,” said Davis in December 2020, reflecting on the sale’s close and its projected ripple effect. “It’s our duty now as the professionals, as the corporates, as the venture capitalists in the community to help make these companies great, because it creates a lot of wealth and gives this region experience.”
BacklotCars co-founders: Josh Parsons, Fabricio Solanes, Justin Davis, and Ryan Davis
Davis and co-founders Josh Parsons, Fabricio Solanes, and Ryan Davis had by late 2020 grown the BacklotCars team to more than 150 — many of whom had equity in the company — since its founding in 2014.
“Now they can take that capital and invest back into our region,” Davis said of BacklotCars’ employees who earned a payout with the massive deal.
Click here to read about how Anders Ericson, former vice president of sales at BacklotCars, recently launched the digital auto retailer startup Whipz.
“I would challenge people to get off the sidelines and get in the game. Help one another,” Davis said. “There’s not this secretive nature to why Silicon Valley works well: people buy in and are supportive. I think there’s a massive opportunity here. We were just one part of the story, and this region has a tremendous potential and groundwork to do something very amazing.”
BacklotCars’ historic exit was only surpassed this week, when Rx Savings Solutions — led by founder Michael Rea, UMKC’s 2019 Kansas City Entrepreneur of the Year — announced the expected acquisition of his startup for $875 million by The McKesson Corporation.
Click here to see more past winners.
The full list of 2022 Entrepreneur of the Year honorees includes:
- David Steward, founder and chairman of World Wide Technology (Henry W. Bloch International Entrepreneur of the Year)
- Justin Davis, co-founder and CEO of BacklotCars (Kansas City Entrepreneur of the Year)
- Jay Coen Gilbert, Andrew Kassoy, and Bart Houlahan, fo-founders of B Lab Global (Marion and John Kreamer Award for Social Entrepreneurship)
- Student Entrepreneur of the Year — Not yet announced
The Entrepreneur of the Year awards program is set for 7 p.m. Oct. 12 at Plexpod Westport Commons.
Click here to register for the event.
Featured Business
2022 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
Negro leagues’ only three women players inspire ‘Beauty of the Game’ by KC designer Cherry
Toni Stone, Connie Morgan and Mamie Johnson — the only three women to play in the Negro baseball leagues — remain an inspiration to female entrepreneurs in male-dominated industries some 50 years later, said Thalia Cherry. “It’s still important for us to carve out a great space for ourselves, a great niche, and do the…
Ranking: KC defies gender pay gap, again earns No. 2 for Women in Tech
Second only to Washington, D.C., in a new national ranking, Kansas City boasts a noteworthy statistic: Women in tech jobs are paid, on average, 2 percent more than their male counterparts. It’s the fourth consecutive year Kansas City has earned a No. 2 on the list of the Best Cities for Women in Tech. But…
Operation Breakthrough expansion helps give every child a chance, Mayor Sly James says
It’s the beginning of a new chapter for Operation Breakthrough, said Kansas City Mayor Sly James. The mayor joined a packed crowd of supporters on an icy Thursday morning to share the Kansas City-based organization’s formal announcement of its $17 million capital campaign and expansion project. The effort — dubbed “Big Dreams, Bright Futures” —…
Blooom CEO switch better allows Costello to ‘evangelize’ high-profile KC startup
Following a “tremendous” year of growth, Blooom officials said Wednesday that upward trajectory requires a new leader at the helm. Co-founder Chris Costello, who has served for the past five years as chief executive officer, has stepped down and moved into a new role as chairman of Blooom’s board of directors. Matt Burgener, the company’s…