TheIncLab, a D.C.-based technology company, is expanding to Tampa and bringing high-tech jobs along with it.
The company has opened an "Artificial Intelligence Experience" lab in The Undercroft, a cybersecurity incubator which opened in Ybor City in June 2019. TheIncLab anticipates hiring up to 15 engineers and developers in the next year.
"We were in a nationwide search for where to best put the lab," founder and CEO Adriana Avakian said in an interview with the Tampa Bay Business Journal. "We looked at other places and Florida, Texas, California, were all contenders at one point. We thought even to expand more in Nashville ... but the Tampa community is extraordinary; one of the biggest things they have is amazing community support, it has a wonderful talent pool."
TheIncLab has developed intelligent system solutions for a slew of clients including the Department of Defense and Fortune 100 companies such as Samsung.
The company will also partner with surrounding universities to offer student internships and a chance to work on cutting-edge projects.
“Artificial intelligence is one of the great frontiers in the innovation economy," University of South Florida College of Engineering professor Sudeep Sarkar said in a statement. "With young companies, our students and our faculty working together, Tampa is growing to become a promising center of diverse skills and new perspectives that will shape AI’s future."
Tampa will be the company's third location, following Washington, D.C. and Nashville. The tipping point for Avakian choosing Tampa was participating in the Tampa Bay Wave's TechDiversity Accelerator program in summer 2019. The company was one of 10 in the program, beating out 432 applications from across the U.S.
"I am proud that our TechDiversity program, funded by the Nielsen Foundation, continues to not only provide critical support to talented startup teams — especially those with diverse founders like Adriana — but also helps to highlight the burgeoning entrepreneurial ecosystem that exists in our region today,” Linda Olson, president and CEO of the Tampa Bay Wave, said in a statement.
The Tampa Bay Economic Development Council helped Avakian secure the Undercroft spot — for which she signed the lease without ever seeing — and believes she can continue a trend of tech companies coming to the region.
“TheIncLab’s announcement is further proof that Tampa’s reputation as a rising tech market is gaining national attention and attracting some really innovative companies,” Marie Chinnici-Everitt, chair of the Tampa Bay Economic Development Council, said in a statement.
Avakian believes the work done by her company will create a lasting impact for the region's tech scene.
"It takes the community and entrepreneurs that if they're funded and exit, they do it for someone else," she said, adding she is actively seeking Florida investors. "You invest in the community and hopefully I'm that story."
