Silver Spring, Md.-based Localist was once part of Baltimore’s prideful startup scene, which gained buzz and subsequently grew between 2009 and 2013—even while a national economic recession played in the background. The quickly growing company was one of the first startups to be based out of the city’s Emerging Technology Center (ETC), a hub for the still-young Baltimore tech community. But co-founder/CEO and 1776 mentor Mykel Nahorniak told DC Inno that he chose to relocate his startup earlier this year because of Baltimore’s lack of developer talent and its “fragmented” incubator scene, among other things.
In a world where developer talent defines a startup’s chances at success, Nahorniak explained that the move to the D.C. area was critical. “I think the city got this sense that it was bigger than what it was … I can count the number of good developers in Baltimore on two hands,” he added.
Localist is a unique event technology company that develops white-label, marketing-centric calendar software. About 60 percent of Localist’s customers hail from the higher education realm, 15 percent comes from tourism brands/services and the remaining 25 percent is evenly distributed between healthcare providers, libraries and corporate customers like L’Oréal. The company’s first customer was Johns Hopkins University (JHU).
Most organizations, like universities, have dozens of different calendars that showcase tens of thousands of events happening across a region. At the moment, however, most of these event information platforms are not typically designed to be very user friendly.
Traditional calendar products look like and function primarily as administrator tools—see Google Calendar. As a result, events listed via these orthodox services yield less than optimal audience attendance and brand awareness opportunities.
According to Nahorniak, Localist in comparison to traditional calendar software, offers a 70 percent increase in event attendance, an 800 percent boost in brand awareness, and thousands of hours of manual work saved every year. Under the service, events can be connected via other scheduling/ticket platforms, like EventBrite, and are customized with individual SEOs to enhance attention via internet traffic.
I can count the number of good developers in Baltimore on two hands
The now Silver Spring-based startup employs 14 people, but has 5 job positions currently open. Within 18 months, the company will more than double, Nahorniak told DC Inno, as he expects a team that is somewhere between 40 and 45 professionals to help him build his smart calendar software empire. Those hires, while being diversely spread across different divisions, will further focus on sales and development staff.
Localist’s CEO explained that his team had worked very hard to create a stable, refined and effective product, but that now was the time to really get out there and sell it. Another reason that Localist relocated to D.C. is that it hopes to tap into the many professional organizations/societies that call the District home. These are premier clients that, Nahorniak explains, would find his software especially advantageous.
"Each fish effectively got their own pond"
I asked Nahorniak if there was one prevailing lesson he had learned through his company's transition from Baltimore to the D.C. area and he responded: “the smaller your company, the easier the move. Thinking long term, if you see your company being limited by its current location, figure out where it needs to end up (as it relates to talent pool, access to customers, exit strategy, funding, etc.) and move as soon as possible. It will only get harder as your company grows.”
In terms of private investment, Localist raised a $300K seed round in late-2009. And they currently have no plans to raise funding in the near future.
Nahorniak declined to comment on revenue numbers, but said that his startup had consistently hit triple-digit year-over-year growth since being founded.
Baltimore’s incubator scene
Every thriving startup hub is home to a growing, incubator scene that proliferates the local market with support for those budding tech companies. From both a city government and general business point-of-view, this viral proliferation is typically welcomed. But in Baltimore, the increase of incubators is outpacing the creation of new startups, according to Nahorniak—translating into the opening of great startup habitats that remain desolate, empty and desperate for purpose.
Baltimore’s incubator scene can be best described, Localist’s CEO said, as being “fragmented.”
“The incubator we were in, the Emerging Technology Center, was the hub of the Baltimore Tech community while we were a resident ('09 through '11). Even then, many of its tenants were service companies, like marketing agencies, not true tech companies,” Nahorniak said, “around late 2010, with smaller east coast cities vying to become the 'Silicon Valley of X,' co-working spaces and new incubators sprouted. But there wasn't a proportional supply of tech companies to fill the space.”
He added, “when we started Localist, we were a big fish in a small pond. With the additional [Baltimore] incubators and co-working spaces, each fish effectively got their own pond. The result was a community without a cohesive mission or the political resources to attract startups and retain them as they grew.”
