Idle Smart posts Series A round with KCRise Fund, multimillion-dollar investment support

October 24, 2018  |  Austin Barnes

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 funding effort.

The round was led by Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, but also included significant support from the KCRise Fund and Service Provider Capital, he said. Stout Street Capital and Clean Energy Fund have also invested in the company, according to online Crunchbase reports.

Known for its patented, energy-saving technology that automates engine start-stops of fleet vehicles, Lynch said the cash infusion will greatly contribute to the internal growth of the company.

“Our business to date commands that we need to build, grow, and enhance our team in advance of what we think will be even better years in 2019, 2020, and 2021,” he said.

Idle Smart’s personnel upgrades will focus on technical expertise, U.S. and international sales forces, and internal account management functions, Lynch added.

“We think it’s a positive sign and a positive year mark in terms of our future opportunities and potential for success,” he said.

In addition to internal growth, Idle Smart is now in the process of relocating its offices from the Kansas City Startup Village to Plexpod Westport Commons, Lynch said.

Idle Smart was one of the first companies to inhabit the startup village –– a series of homes nestled within the 45th Street and State Line Road neighborhoods that first welcomed Google Fiber, which came to Kansas City in 2012.

[adinserter block="4"]

2018 Startups to Watch

    stats here

    Related Posts on Startland News

    SNAP cuts are ‘worse than they look on paper’: Food access advocates warn shelves could go bare overnight

    By Tommy Felts | September 16, 2025

    Chef Shanita McAfee-Bryant doesn’t mince words about perceptions of the hungry Kansas Citians she serves daily through her award-winning culinary social venture. “These are the people who — if you listen to the rhetoric — are deemed ‘lazy,’” the founder of The Prospect KC’s NourishKC Community Kitchen told Startland News. “We know the narratives being…

    LISTEN: Fermenting a clean future through products from meat alternatives to skin creams and baby formula

    By Tommy Felts | September 13, 2025

    On this episode of Startland News’ Plug and Play Topeka founder podcast series, we chat with Francesca Gallucci of Natáur, a Baltimore-based biotech company that’s reimagining how essential nutrients are made. Combining synthetic biology, metabolic engineering, and eco-friendly fermentation, they’re producing bio-based taurine (and other naturally occurring sulfur compounds) without relying on petroleum. Gallucci takes…

    KCMO slashes fees for outdoor dining permits, launches dining trail for grant winning projects

    By Tommy Felts | September 12, 2025

    Kansas City has officially eliminated outdoor dining permit fees, reducing the cost from $850 to zero, thanks to the momentum created by a city-led initiative to encourage investment in outdoor dining experiences, city leaders announced this week, unveiling new plans to promote funded businesses and their projects.  Launched in 2024, the Outdoor Dining Enhancement Program…

    World Cup will produce KC small biz millionaires in just weeks, leaders say, but it’s only the start

    By Tommy Felts | September 12, 2025

    Kansas City can’t look at the World Cup in 2026 as one big event where businesses are going to make good money for a while, and then everything goes back to normal, said Wes Rogers.  “This has to be the beginning of the next chapter of our city,” the 2nd District Councilman for Kansas City,…