Cloud platform Packet opens KC office after $25M funding round in New York

New York-based Packet’s newly established Kansas City office is expected to take full advantage of the area’s wealth of tech talent, said Ihab Tarazi.

“There is actually a very good technical base in Kansas City — so here’s validation of that,” said Tarazi, chief technology officer at the cloud infrastructure firm committed to “building a better Internet.”

Packet team

“Technology and software is becoming location-agnostic more and more just because of the power of automation,” he said. “The tools for collaboration are developing so much that we could really take advantage of a team in a place like Kansas City.”

An alternative to such rivals as Amazon Web Services and Rackspace, Packet is expected to recruit heavily from schools like the University of Kansas, and to supply internship opportunities to tap skill sets at the collegiate level,” he added.

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The Kansas City location joins four other Packet offices — New York, Palo Alto, Dallas and Manila — previously established since the firm was founded by Zachary Smith and Jacob Smith in 2014, said Tarazi.

The firm’s $25 million Series B round finalized in September 2018 — led by heavy-hitters like Softbank, Samsung, and Dell Technologies Capital — paving the way for the Palo Alto and Kansas City offices, he added.

Packet’s move into Kansas City establishes the startup as the only cloud provider in the area with a software engineering footprint, said Josue Lopez, engineering manager at Packet who also is guiding the KC office, noting that other area cloud players only implemented representatives and sales teams — not a full force.

Becoming ingrained within the KC community remains a high priority, he said, noting the firm is expected to implement meetups starting in April featuring guest speakers from Silicon Valley and other ecosystems.

“We’ll bring in technical skills and knowledge even for people who don’t work for us to share it with the community,” added Tarazi. “That’s our commitment to the community.”

Click here to browse Packet’s KC office career options.

“We’re trying to come and be a part of the community just as much as we want to community to be a part of us,” added Lopez. “It just makes a lot of sense that we would be able to create this center of excellence here in Kansas City.”