Pramata, which uses advanced data analysis to help businesses attract and keep customers, will bring 15 jobs to the area, said CEO and co-founder Praful Saklani. He was in town Thursday for the announcement, along with Gov. Jay Nixon of Missouri.
Nixon also announced that LaunchCode, another company with a new Crossroads office, will receive a second $250,000 grant from the Missouri Technology Corp. to support its expansion in Kansas City.
LaunchCode, a nonprofit started in St. Louis that helps train tech talent and match it with internships and job openings, got a similar grant last year to start its efforts in Kansas City.
The governor made the announcements after a tour of the Sprint Accelerator, which provides office space and other support for entrepreneurs. It’s also home for LaunchCode’s Kansas City office.
“The burgeoning technology scene here in Kansas City’s Crossroads is a big reason why Missouri is a nationally recognized leader in high-tech jobs and innovation,” Nixon said. “By balancing budgets and making smart investments in education and entrepreneurship, we will continue to move Kansas City and the entire state forward.”
Pramata, headquartered in Brisbane, Calif., on the San Francisco Bay, has offices on both coasts and clients throughout North America. It helps businesses that serve other businesses by extracting and analyzing information from the companies’ contracts, billing and other interactions. The Kansas City office initially will provide administrative and sales support.
“Kansas City offers a unique combination of a skilled talent pool along with a central location,” Saklani said. “It’s the ideal place to anchor our U.S. expansion and a fantastic base from which to serve our customers.”
Missouri has offered economic incentives, and Saklani said Pramata, impressed by the welcome it has received in Kansas City, expected to have no problem meeting its 15-job target. The Missouri Partnership, the Economic Development Corporation of Kansas City and the Kansas City Area Development Council also assisted the company with its expansion.
LaunchCode announced its Kansas City office last year at the city’s first Techweek and opened the space just last month. The mentoring and job matchup organization was founded in 2013 by Jim McKelvey, who also started the mobile payments company Square.
At the announcement Thursday, LaunchCode executive director Brendan Lind said the new office had already partnered with several area businesses and would launch education and training efforts next month.
Making Kansas City “America’s most entrepreneurial city” is one of the Big 5 goals of the Greater Kansas City Chamber of Commerce, and Mayor Sly James joined in the announcements Thursday.
©2016 The Kansas City Star (Kansas City, Mo.) Distributed by Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
