Growth-fueled HR tech startup moving to Crossroads after announcing $9M defense contract
April 16, 2025 | Startland News Staff
Jumping from a handful of employees to 15 over the past year has come with growing pains for Piccadilly Software Group, said co-founder Abe Dick, but the flip-side comes in the form of enhanced community presence, new office space, and greater opportunity for its signature product.
The company this month announced its move to a 6,400-square-foot office space in the Wonder Hub building at 1607 Oak St. — just months after lauding a $9 million contract supporting the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Defense’s submarine industrial base initiatives. (That project provides the startup’s TEQ Connect platform to help defense contractors accelerate the hiring of qualified candidates and boost worker retention in the national defense industry.)
“Piccadilly Software Group has grown significantly in the past year, and we now have the room we need to accommodate future growth, and we get to do it right in the heart of the city,” said Dick, who also is chief technology officer at Piccadilly Software Group.
“The Crossroads is an ideal location for our new headquarters,” he continued. “This is where our current and future team members want to be, and we look forward to rapidly expanding our organization in 2025 and beyond.”
Piccadilly Cloud’s TEQ Connect product was developed by father-son duo Ray Dick (CEO), a University of Kansas engineering instructor-turned-entrepreneur, and Abe Dick, a software engineer who previously worked at such top startups as PayIt and Pepper IoT; and a growing team in Kansas City.
The company’s first-of-its-kind SaaS platform was developed to enable human resources managers in manufacturing and the skilled trades to speed hiring, enhance retention and increase productivity.
Needs across industries abound, its co-founders said.
The U.S. Navy, for example, needs three new nuclear-powered submarines each year for the next 10 years to secure the nation, Ray Dick said previously, noting it’s an effort that will require an estimated 140,000 “highly skilled, well-trained and highly motivated workers.”
“Using TEQ Connect, military contractors can quickly identify and hire the ‘best fit’ employees they need to fulfill their missions and keep America strong,” he added.
The Wonder Hub building also is home to O’Neill Events & Marketing. It previously housed the Head for the Cure Foundation, which relocated to 3238 Gillham Rd, Kansas City.
Featured Business

2025 Startups to Watch
stats here
Related Posts on Startland News
H&R Block must reconnect with startup energy, innovation, CEO Jeff Jones says
Jeff Jones’ journey to Kansas City — winding through hangouts with popstar Justin Timberlake, dinner with Oprah, and a stint driving one of the world’s most dominant sharing economy companies — has been transformative, the H&R Block CEO said. And if the homegrown corporate juggernaut he now leads is to meet its stretch potential, the…
From Cake to Google: Musician-turned-tech leader composes career between keyboards
Well into a music career — but noticing friends who were still trying to find gigs to make ends meet — Ben Morss faced a life-altering pivot. “I got sick of it and I turned to programming full time,” said Morss, a developer advocate at Google. “As a musician, I was trying to call people…
Idle Smart posts Series A round with KCRise Fund, multimillion-dollar investment support
A multi-million dollar investment round has Kansas City-grown Idle Smart revving its engine and accelerating toward rapid growth in 2019, revealed Jeff Lynch, company president. “I think it’s a reflection of what the team has been able to create over the past few years,” Lynch said of Idle Smart’s completion of a milestone Series A…
LaunchKC winner Erkios: Hacking attacks will come from inside — Fortifi intellectual property
Tinkering with old technology defined childhood for Philip Van Der Straeten, COO of Kansas City tech startup Erkios Systems. Such adventures could one day provide a nationwide payoff for his company, he said. “Our organization was built by tinkerers and critical thinkers attempting to break things down and get a better grasp of what they…

