A San Francisco-based startup that provides technology to help companies and organizations use artificial intelligence, or AI, has opened a new office in Downtown West that will house 215 employees, a figure expected to more than double in coming years.
The startup, Scale AI Inc., has started to operate out of its new office, at 1227 Washington Ave. The building's owner is 1227 Washington LLC, whose registered agent is Sean McGowan of McGowan Brothers Development, according to city records. The size of Scale’s Downtown West office and the length of its lease there were not immediately known.
Employees began moving into the space last week and Scale AI on Tuesday held a ribbon cutting event to officially open the new office. The company isn't receiving any subsidies for opening the office, officials said.
Founded in 2016, Scale AI has developed a data platform that it says helps customers incorporate artificial intelligence into their operations. Its customers include major brands like Toyota, General Motors and Samsung, as well as federal agencies and research institutions. Scale AI is led by 25-year-old founder and CEO Alexandr Wang, who dropped out of Massachusetts Institute of Technology to create the company.
Since its founding, Scale AI has raised $603 million from investors and grown to a team of more than 650 employees. It says its most recent funding round, a $325 million Series E financing in April 2021, valued the startup at $7.3 billion. Its investors include high-profile venture funds, including Founders Fund, Tiger Global and Accel.
With its new Downtown West office, Scale AI becomes the second high-profile Silicon Valley company this year to open a hub in St. Louis, following cybersecurity firm Netskope’s expansion in Clayton.
Scale AI said its decision to open an office in St. Louis stems from its pursuit to grow its customer base in the geospatial technology field, with plans to expand its roster of clients in the government, private and academic sectors. In St. Louis, Scale AI says its St. Louis employees will work with customers that include the U.S. Department of Defense Joint AI Center, U.S. Army Research Lab and U.S. Air Force Research Lab.
Mark Valentine, head of federal at Scale AI, said the startup's decision to open its office in Downtown West was influenced by the area’s proximity to nearby anchor institutions in the region’s burgeoning geospatial industry. The new office will give Scale AI nearby access to the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency's new western headquarters, and to Downtown's T-REX entrepreneurship center and Globe Building, both of which have become home to a cluster of geospatial entities. Scale AI said it expects to open up an office in the Globe Building, which includes a 75,000-square-foot sensitive compartmented information facility.
Scale AI initially began operating in the St. Louis region more than a year ago when it opened a temporary office near St. Louis Lambert International Airport, Valentine said. He added the startup’s local team has steadily grown since establishing operations in the region and that he expects the expansion to continue.
“My goal would be to get us to around 500 (employees) over the course of the next couple years,” he said.
As it expands, Scale AI says it plans to place an emphasis on hiring "local talent who come from different career paths."
Civic leaders lauded Scale AI’s expansion in St. Louis, with Jason Hall, CEO of Greater St. Louis Inc., saying at Tuesday's ribbon cutting that the move marks a victory for the downtown and geospatial field. In a statement, Mayor Tishaura Jones said Scale’s new office “strengthens our city's position as a leader in the technology industry.”
"These jobs and future positions will help keep our downtown neighborhoods active while creating better opportunities for residents," Jones said.
