Hunter Abramson first made a bet on Lakeland when he started his Web3-focused company, Relic Tickets, in 2021.
He, and a small group of fellow entrepreneurs, soon became evangelists for the burgeoning city. Abramson grew his team to a dozen employees and earlier this month was tapped as Entrepreneur of the Year by Lakeland's startup hub, Catapult.
And now, he's taking that same mindset with his move to St. Petersburg.
"We want to give back to the city as much as they’ve given to us,"Abramson said in an exclusive interview with Tampa Bay Inno. "We want to create community, and be part of it, and be able to elevate the city on the journey it's going through."
Abramson's company Relic Tickets offers a "smart ticket" system through blockchain, allowing event attendees to get the benefits while cutting down on fraud, through QR codes, pre- and post-event benefits and the ability to share tickets with friends.
He had considered both Austin and Miami for the company's landing spot. Abramson had business ties in Austin and the city as a whole is one of the biggest startup hubs in the U.S., and Miami is becoming widely-known in the Web3 space.
But along with plans to grow the company, he analyzed the potential growth trajectory of the cities.
"When it came down to it, we dug into not just the community of St. Pete as a whole and the quality of living, but asked what St. Pete is going to look like in the future," Abramson said. "The collaborative of St. Pete as a whole — from private and public sector business, to innovative tech, to conducting case studies with private companies who are willing to take risks, to having a close relationship in a collaborative community — we felt that was important."
The St. Pete Economic Development Corporation also played a large role in courting the company.
"Relic represents exactly the kind of industry-changing innovation you find in St. Petersburg, and they’re the kind of company we welcome — creative, entrepreneurial and dedicated to being part of the community," J.P. DuBuque, president and CEO of the St. Pete EDC, said in an email to Tampa Bay Inno. "We are delighted that they’ve chosen to ‘Become St. Pete’ and we look forward to their involvement and leadership here."
Relic Tickets is in the process of searching for an official headquarters space in St. Pete, and will work out of the Thrive DTSP coworking space in the interim.
Abramson has already begun planting seeds for Relic Tickets' growth: He's in discussions with several undisclosed businesses throughout the city for pilot projects and is eyeing an internship program. The company has raised $1.25 million and is in the process of raising a $5 million seed round.
He added he would like to create 20 to 40 jobs in the next few years, with a focus on building locally.
"Our goal is how to hire as much as possible," Abramson said.
But he hasn't entirely put his Lakeland roots behind him, and believes his experience can help boost the I-4 corridor region as a whole.
"Its become, 'What does it look like to continue being the evangelists here, to be able to grow in the central Florida area with the I-4 corridor being so prime?'" Abramson said. "We have moved to St. Pete and that's where we’ll be focused, but we see opportunity in the I-4 corridor. So how do we partner and innovate all the way through to Orlando?"
