A Tampa-based medtech company has nearly tripled its office size after quadruple growth in the last year.
Smart Meter, best known for its cellular-based monitoring products, including iGlucose, has moved into a 5,200-square-foot space in the Sweetwater Business Center at 5501 West Waters Ave.
The move came after CEO Casey Pittock joined the company in February 2021. Smart Meter was previously in a 1,900-square-foot space in the Fifth Third Center in downtown Tampa.
“When I came in, I thought, ‘We move products in and out all day,’” he said of the company’s spot on the building’s eighth floor. “It didn’t make sense. I very quickly knew we needed to do something more robust.”
The new space, which Pittock signed for three years, is a mix of office and warehouse space. There are 21 employees in the current office, with plans to increase to 30 by the end of the year.
Talent was the key reason Pittock chose to keep the company in Tampa, he said, despite the move and the fact Pittock himself lives in Silicon Valley. There were also brief considerations to consolidate the company to the New York/New Jersey area, where Smart Meter has a second office.
“Looking at the core of our business — which is tech support, IT support — we had a great core of talent and would hate to lose that,” he said, adding the region’s affordability and the weather were also conducive to shipping.
Pittock is already looking for more office space, which he hopes to keep in the general area of Sweetwater. There could be further plans to launch a West Coast distribution center in the future, with Tampa serving the eastern U.S.
It’s following a larger growth trend for the company, which is closing in on $25 million in revenue this year, quadrupling its year-over-year numbers. It also bumped from 16 employees in 2021 to 38 across the country.
“Tampa — it’s where I think Austin was 10, 12 years ago. It’s up and coming for shipping, customer support, finance and accounting,” Pittock said. “So we are growing very, very rapidly, and we don’t see that stopping.”
