As we said in our 19 Startups to Watch in 2019, Rhode Island had a big year in 2018.
But that has come and gone, and we’re interested in looking ahead. So, we spoke with a handful of area thought leaders to get their perspectives on what 2019 will bring for the startup and tech ecosystem in the Ocean State.
While each individual had their own predictions, there certainly was consensus. The potential for early tech education across the ecosystem. Increased perception, both internally and externally, that Providence (and Rhode Island!) is the place to start and scale a tech enterprise. More collaboration between different industries throughout the state.
Get these leaders' specific insights below, all in their own words — and make sure to share your own thoughts on Rhody's 2019 with us @Rhody_Inno on Twitter.
Brian Jepson, PRovidence Geeks
Generally, I think we'll see an increased engagement from tech companies large and small in growing tech skills in our community. It's been easy for us to focus on upskilling the people who are currently entering the workforce, but there's a big return to be had by addressing the skills gap starting at a younger age.
For the past few years, I've volunteered at the Computer Science for RI Summit to lead hands-on coding workshops, and I've been impressed by the number of folks from tech companies of all sizes, as well as R.I.'s many STEM and STEAM-focused nonprofits, who were exhibiting or offering hands-on experiences there. There's a growing understanding that if startups and other tech companies want talent, we need to help our youngest citizens build skills, even if they might not be entering the workforce for another decade.
Betsy Santarlasci, Director of Advancement, Daily Table
2019 is going to be an exciting year of new players entering the space, including the Cambridge Innovation Center/Venture Cafe. In food, there will be a continuing demand for kitchen space for entrepreneurs growing out of Hope & Main and other incubation kitchens. In its fourth year, the Social Enterprise Greenhouse Food Accelerator will continue to evolve to meet the demands of food entrepreneurs for business acumen, particularly our farmers, fishermen and innovators tackling food insecurity and food waste. Those entrepreneurs producing consumer product goods need more high level curriculum to help them scale. It would be great if SEG and CommonWealth Kitchen would collaborate on developing a new program focused on the CPG space.
Jonas Clark, Associate Director, Jonathan M. Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship, Brown University
Looking ahead in 2019, I think we're going to see even greater momentum in the startup scene in Rhode Island. Many of the critical components are really starting to come together in significant ways; there is more collaboration, more resources and above all, more people (the most important ingredient!) who are really interested in building serious ventures here.
I know from my work with entrepreneurs at Brown, we're starting to see a lot more interest from teams who are really looking at Providence as a great place to grow after they graduate and I think we're going to see a few of them take some big strides in the next year. Building teams, raising money, raising the profile of their work, etc. There are some incredibly talented people on the verge of doing just that, and doing it here.
I'll also hazard one more prediction. I think we're going to see a big uptick in tech translation and more commercializable ventures coming out of research labs. There are quite a few people here on Brown's campus who are doing really interesting and impactful work, and I think we've only scratched the surface in terms of being able to get some of that out into the world. I'm really excited about that in the year ahead as well, to see what kind of progress we can make.
Randall Jackvony, VP of Technology and Client Services, Trilix
Many companies have yet to reap the benefits from remote work and other efficiencies technology can enable. As they move more in this direction, we will see more organizations understand not just the utility of their technology staff, but the need to make them more strategic to grow their organization to the next level. We predict a uptick in organizations replacing legacy systems and using custom software development to reap more benefit from their existing IT spend.
We have been seeing a trend towards a strengthening of local tech and startup community. More organizations see the advantage to using local technology companies to help improve their businesses; we hope to see the “Buy Local†movement grow in technology! That will help us attract new talent and businesses from out of state. Rhode Island is in such a unique position geographically, size-wise and with a great quality of life. We could be a strong tech hub if we continue to nurture our startup community.
Carol Malysz, Executive Director, MedMates
Collaboration will be a key theme for us in 2019. We will be working with our ecosystem partners to foster innovation, spur new company creation and help existing companies grow, expand and remain in Rhode Island. Through workshops, resources, training, special events and networking, we will collaborate with our strategic partners to foster the discovery, development and delivery of life-changing and life-saving innovations that improve patient’s lives, strengthen our economy and enhance the quality of life in our state.
Mei Li Zhou, Partnership Specialist, General Assembly Providence
Data science, analytics, and machine learning are industries that are growing and changing at a rapid rate. Many companies are investing in talent and technologies that will help scale their business. To prepare for the future of work, big data is something we should all know more about and keeping up with the trends is a key to success. Many companies are growing their data team. For example, in Rhode Island, "CVS is a Fortune 7 company embarking on a journey of evolving its existing ExtraCare program into a world-class personalization and loyalty program. This is a top initiative within the company and we have a team dedicated to recruiting the best talent in the world to help propel us to this goal."
In addition, blockchain is still a hot topic. We hosted a blockchain 101 event at Tech Collective last December, and we saw a lot of interests from the community to learn more about this technology. Representatives from the R.I. Department of Regulation and the R.I. Commerce Corporation attended, along with residents who simply want to understand how it works and what's next for cryptocurrency. Blockchain has a potential to drastically change the fintech space.
