Growing Atlanta’s Startup Ecosystem

Car driving on Technology Parkway in Curiosity Lab

It is no secret Atlanta has been making major headlines by becoming a major tech hub in the Southeast. Over the past five years, Atlanta has seen 15% growth in tech jobs as major corporations move their headquarters and tech divisions to Atlanta. In 2022 alone, Walmart, Capital One, Microsoft, Apple and Visa were just a few corporations to make their move. Today, according to the Metro Atlanta Chamber of Commerce, the city is home to more than 13,000 tech companies.

To fuel the growing tech industry, Atlanta has a high volume of graduates, with Georgia Tech producing the most tech graduates per year in the United States, and well-respected universities such as Morehouse, Emory, University of Georgia and more. These universities have proven to be an important source of knowledge and support for innovators as the startup scene continues to grow.

Over the past decade, Atlanta’s startup ecosystem has slowly gained traction. More than a dozen companies that started or are based in Atlanta have grown to valuations above $1 billion. With this rise in unicorn status, investors and VCs have followed the move to our city to source companies. This has only fast-forwarded the growth of Atlanta’s tech ecosystem and specifically, the startup scene.

Startup Ecosystem Support

Metro Atlanta houses 40 corporate innovation centers, making Atlanta the highest concentrated city of startups and innovators in the Southeast. Paired with a wide range of incubators and accelerators that provide resources, networking, mentorship and more, this creates the perfect tech bed for growing startups. Georgia Tech’s ATDC, Atlanta Tech Village, Atlanta Tech Park and of course, the Curiosity Lab, are some of the most recognizable organizations for startup resources.

In addition, the infrastructure for startups continues to grow with groups such as Venture Atlanta and Pitch Atlanta taking an additional step in helping these entrepreneurs secure funding.

Which Incubator or Accelerator is Right for You?

Car driving on Technology Parkway in Curiosity Lab

Atlanta is incredibly lucky to have such a wide range of resources, incubators and accelerators to choose from, and we are proud to be one of the major resources for startups in Atlanta. However, with all these resources, entrepreneurs may be wondering which is the right option for your startup. Identifying the stage of your startup, your location and the specific resources you need, will help entrepreneurs choose the best incubator or accelerator.

Why Curiosity Lab

The Innovation Center

At Curiosity Lab, we have specialized startup programs and resources that cater specifically to our startups’ needs.

Resources

For entrepreneurs looking for a tight-knit community, our lab is the perfect fit. Our 25,000 square foot innovation center is home to innovators of all sizes. Lab partners range from global companies such as T-Mobile and UPS, to international companies launching in the United States, to local startups. Here, our environment creates a space for companies of all stages to share innovation. Our goal is to connect people working on cutting-edge technologies to one another and to opportunities to accelerate growth.

From private offices to open or dedicated seating, conference rooms, classrooms, a podcast room and a prototype workshop, we have the daily resources you need to succeed. Our resident startups have 24/7 access to the innovation center – you never know when your next big idea will hit you.

Curiosity Lab also gives companies the ability to test their technology in a real-world environment. Acting as the ‘walk’ in the crawl, walk run, the lab provides a 3-mile test area where our startups have full access to 5G, smart city infrastructure, C-V2X technologies, LiDAR, an autonomous vehicle test lane and more. Here, your technologies interact with real traffic, pedestrians, weather and more. This allows our entrepreneurs to see how their technology behaves in a real-world environment before committing to full-scale deployment.

Startup Programs

We provide three separate programs for entrepreneurs and startups, thanks to our program partners OVHcloud US, ATDC, Georgia Tech, T-Mobile and Shadow-Soft.

  • OVHcloud US

Whether you need to manage cost, infrastructure capacity, and agility of resources or simply improve latency and performance issues, OVHcloud offers a wide range of cloud solutions to best fit your startup.

OVHcloud US provides startups and scaleups with free Public Cloud credits and technical support to accelerate their journey onto a secured, reliable and cost-efficient cloud. Their ambition is to help startups use cloud technology more efficiently to grow their business.

Find out more here.

OVH Cloud logo.

  • Connected Future Incubator
    A collaboration between Georgia Tech and T-Mobile, this program is intended to rapidly scale high-potential startups leveraging the power of 5G. Here you will have access to startup coaches and a more than 40-person team at Georgia Tech dedicated to helping with everything from product development to business models to preparing for investor meetings. In addition, education on 5G, access to T-Mobile’s technical resources at Curiosity Lab, and of course access to our smart city infrastructure is available. Find out more here.

T-Mobile Accelerator

  • Shadow-Soft

This local software company helps growing companies modernize their infrastructure and applications with containers, Kubernetes and the cloud. Consultation sessions help startups identify where to start in their software, cloud and platform journey, how to take your software concepts to prototypes and to help startups with rapid infrastructure scaling needs.

Shadow Soft logo

Events

At the end of 2022, Curiosity Lab kicked off our Curious Connections series. These free events act as startup learning days where we bring industry leaders, unicorns, VCs and program resources. Here, we welcome startups of all verticals, stages and locations to join us for a day of networking, learning and sharing innovation. In 2023, Curiosity Lab will continue this series, helping to further educate startups in our Atlanta community. Stay tuned!

Groups of people sitting at tables.
Credit to Rannulf Media

Interested in joining the Curiosity Lab or finding out more about our startup programs? Contact us today!