Tristan Yang saw the potential of Tampa Bay decades before the rest of the nation took note.
“I remember going to New York [to attend Columbia University], and people would often belittle coming from Tampa,” Yang said in an interview with Tampa Bay Inno. “There was a somewhat lack of respect for the city, but people started realizing Tampa is a place of immense potential and imagination, especially during Covid. Now you see all these people who used to say, ‘What is Tampa?’ are now moving in swarms.”
Yang, who moved to Lutz when he was 2 years old and attended Berkeley Preparatory School, realized the region's opportunity when he began working at MacDill Air Force Base during college — specifically that it has both the U.S. Special Operations Command and U.S. Central Command.
“Those are two huge opportunities,” Yang said. “And it’s the potential to turn Tampa into a huge hub for dual-use technology.”
Yang hopes his company, Holocron Technologies, is the start of that. While the company is currently based in Washington, D.C., Yan wants to move its headquarters to the region by next year.
The company uses artificial intelligence to forecast global tech trends with a focus on the defense industry. It announced in May it closed a $1.5 million seed round led by New Hampshire-based New North Ventures. It had participation from Gainesville-based OneSixOne Ventures.
“Their expertise in AI-driven technology forecasting has the potential to revolutionize how we address emerging threats in today’s rapidly evolving landscape,” said OneSixOne partner Pablo Casilimas in a statement. The venture firm plans to connect Holocron with the Florida Institute for National Security in a future partnership.
But perhaps the most notable investor is Winklevoss Capital, led by Cameron and Tyler Winklevoss. The brothers sued Mark Zuckerburg in 2004 for allegedly stealing the idea for the social media giant Facebook. Winklevoss Capital was founded in 2012, and this is its first investment in a Tampa Bay startup.
“They’re starting to diversify and get into more national security-driven visions, so we came up to them,” Yang said, adding an initial introduction was made through contacts in New York City. “One thing led to another, and they were a major investor in our round; we’re pretty happy about that.”
The funding will help the company expands its head count, which currently sits at three employees. Yang expects to launch a seed round in the coming year and will move the startup’s operations to Tampa with that funding.
He’s seen the success companies can have in the region — he is neighbors with ConnectWise co-founder Arnie Bellini, who had one of the largest exits in the region’s history.
“We’re going a different route; he obviously bootstrapped and built the company with his own hands, but there’s a lot to learn from people like Arnie,” Yang said. “It serves as an inspiration.”
Beyond the headquarter shift, Yang plans to double down on the Sunshine State; he hopes to involve more local firms in the company’s upcoming seed round and potentially begin a partnership with the University of Florida.
“Florida is a very business friendly state, Tampa especially,” Yang said. “What we’re trying to do, is we have a lot of [Department of Defense] focus ... if we want to win the strategic competition, we want to bridge the gap between Silicon Valley and the Pentagon.”
