Startup technology company Knowledge as a Service Inc. (KaaS) has found its Wichita location in the Garvey Center downtown.
The business has signed a five-year lease on office space in the building as part of an agreement with Bonavia Properties that included investment in the new company through two avenues.
Bonavia, which bought the Garvey Center in 2015, has invested an undisclosed amount through the startup’s crowdfunding campaign and through the state of Kansas’ Angel Investor Tax Credit program.
That program offers a credit of up to 50% of the investor’s cash investment in a qualified business.
After having previously worked out of Groover Labs since announcing plans in June to move all of the company’s operations, KaaS will now be headquartered in 5,500 square feet in the downtown building.
“KaaS’ vision for Wichita and ours align, representing a shift toward Wichita’s entrepreneurial spirit and a future that both innovates and disrupts,” Bonavia CEO Nick Bonavia says in a press release. “This long-term partnership accelerates our respective growth plans, and we look forward to profitable and rewarding relationship with KaaS.”
The tech company’s chief vision officer, Robert Feeney, said the company was sold on Bonavia’s own vision for the future of the Garvey Center.
“We agreed that there is a future for our company inside of that plan,” he said. “Not only for KaaS, but also for other cutting-edge technology companies in Wichita.”
KaaS has begun making it first local hires as it works to market its employee training app called Ringorang.
The company in June said it planned to hire 40 people by next summer as part of plans to invest $4 million in its local operations.
Bonavia and KaaS are similarly dedicated to investing in Wichita,” said KaaS COO B.W. Barkley. “When we came here form Silicon Valley, we made a commitment to be all-in in Wichita, growing our company, our product and making a difference in the startup community here.”
