There is Atlanta, Georgia. It has emerged as one of the busiest innovation hubs in the country, with a number of investors backing the enterprise, cyber security and SaaS sectors, as well as the hot new startups coming out of the city. Some notable companies from Atlanta include Calendly, Kabbage, One Trust, and FullStory—all unicorns, by the way.
Many, like Calendley, have passed through the Atlanta Tech Village since it was founded by David Cummings in 2012, serving as an incubator for the city’s talent ecosystem.
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Record labels like Quality Control, Migos Music House now have investment arms, and local HBCUs like Morehouse have their own entrepreneurship and innovation centers. Even the Atlanta Hawks formed their own investment company to back top talent. In fact, ATL credits itself with being so committed to growing its technology ecosystem that it has appointed a chief technology officer, or some informally call the role tech czar.
Naturally, TechCrunch’s next step was to light up the city to showcase all the new and upcoming. Investors and founders have been expressing excitement about what is happening in the region. Last year, Atlanta startups raised about $1.65 billion, according to Pitchbook; Although down about 47.9% year-over-year, this amount is still the highest amount of funding allocated to the city in recent years.
“The opportunity for venture capital in the South is better than ever,” Lisa Calhoun, general partner at Valor Ventures, told TechCrunch+ last year. “Many new founders are launching companies at an alarming rate; We’ve never had much in terms of deal flow.
Tune in to TechCrunch Live on June 7 at 10:00 a.m. as we unpack what’s happening in Atlanta’s tech ecosystem. Although much of the event is still under wraps (stay tuned), we can promise interesting panels and articles to showcase the city’s commitment to being a hub of culture and technology. Trust us, this is not an event you want to miss, so stay posted for updates, and we hope you can join us as we officially welcome you to Atlanta.
PS: If you are an Atlanta-based early stage founder, please apply directly to a panel of guest investors/judges for the live pitch competition. The winner will get a free booth at TechCrunch Disrupt this year to showcase their company on our startup runway.
