Lynx Automation, a software company from California, will relocate its corporate headquarters to the Tampa Bay area, according to a Tuesday announcement.
The Sacramento, California-based company plans to finalize the move and secure an office space once it has hired more employees in the Tampa area. It sells third-party software that can compatibly control and access more than 400 devices, such as digital door locks or elevators.
The company plans to hire 50 employees in the area by next year, as it has seen similar yearly employee growth in the past, Resha Shroff, the co-founder and CEO of Lynx Automation, told Tampa Bay Inno.
Lynx chose the Sunshine State over considerations like Nevada, Texas and Tennessee because of its tax and business regulation environment, labor force and quality of life. The beaches and variety of available lifestyles, such as urban living in downtown Tampa and suburban living throughout the area, appealed to those involved in the decision.
“As we were growing, the tax burden was also growing significantly. Similarly, we were no longer a very small business, and so a lot more recognition was burdening us and would continue to burden us as we grow,” Shroff said.
The company also has a large existing customer base in Tampa Bay because of the prominent vacation and rental industry, Shroff said.
Lynx Automation was started in 2017 and saw growth in recent years as Covid increased the need for contactless access technology, such as digital keys, Shroff said. It currently has 50 employees, according to the announcement from the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council and the St. Petersburg Economic Development Council.
“We had made up our mind that for our future we needed to be out of California,” Shroff said, referring to the past year of considering and planning a move from Sacramento.
It has hired one Tampa employee as a customer support team member, and it is currently seeking local employees for positions in account management, customer support, sales and software engineering roles. Most employees at Lynx Automation work remotely, Shroff told Tampa Bay Inno.
Lynx Automation is the most recent in a string of other companies, like AutoSlide, Engineered Fluids and OPSWAT, that have announced a relocation from California to Tampa, according to the Tampa Bay EDC.
