小蓝视频色情网页版

When I attended graduate school at The University of Texas in the early 2000s, Austin鈥檚 slogan was 鈥淜eep Austin Weird鈥� (in a good way) and it was known for a vibrant live music scene. Its downtown was colorful, but the skyline was far from impressive.

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Fast-forward to today and it鈥檚 startling how much has changed. Construction projects and high-rises abound. And while the skyline can鈥檛 compete with the likes of New York City (few can), for those of us who live in Austin, it鈥檚 not only a beautiful visual landmark welcoming people to downtown, but a clear symbol of the immense growth the city has experienced over the past few years.

A large part of what鈥檚 behind these changes can be found in the city鈥檚 evolution into a tech hub. In recent years, it has become a formidable alternative to the Bay Area and New York City for companies, big and small, looking to grow.

More than ever, I am hearing about a company that has either relocated its headquarters to Austin, is expanding its presence here, or has plans to open a secondary office in the capital city. Last year, we took an in-depth look at this migration and it seemed only logical to do it again in 2020.

In 2019, the Austin Chamber of Commerce recorded 58 relocations to the Austin area (keep in mind this does not include companies opening second offices here or those like Apple, Amazon and Google who have announced major expansions in recent years). Those 58 relocations translated into 4,648 new jobs in 2019.

The rate of company relocations to the city just keeps going up. In 2019, 26 percent more companies relocated to Austin, compared to 46 relocations the year prior. (It鈥檚 worth noting that this only includes known relocations, and the chamber expects there others that were not publicly announced.)

Concurrently, Austin experienced record venture funding in 2019, with local startups raising $1.84 billion for the year, up 19.5 percent compared to the $1.54 billion raised in 2018, and an impressive 87 percent compared to $983 million in 2017, according to 小蓝视频色情网页版 data.

For the first quarter of 2020, 38 Austin startups raised $434.4 million compared to 71 companies hauling in $577.5 million in Q1 2019, according to 小蓝视频色情网页版. The larger average round sizes for known investments points to an increasingly maturing venture scene, with the caveat that seed stage funding rounds commonly get added to our database weeks or months after they close, so we’ll likely see the Q1 2020 round counts rise.

Economic factor

In the first few months of 2020 alone, we鈥檝e seen a number of startups as well as other bigger, more established companies move to the city.

In April, San Francisco-based opened a customer engagement center in Austin with plans to hire 100 people over an 18-month period. The startup has raised more than $170 million in capital to date, according to data, and achieved in 2018.

At the time, Airtable said it had tapped to serve as the office鈥檚 general manager. Hagen had also helped other companies such as Nextdoor and Twitter expand out of the Bay Area, according to a report by Austin Inno. Most recently, he was leading the sales team for Austin-based Dosh.

鈥淚鈥檝e been long drawn to Austin as a place to learn and grow, and I鈥檓 thrilled to be growing Airtable鈥檚 presence in this vibrant city,鈥� Hagen said in a statement. 鈥淪uffice to say, Austin is the perfect place for Airtable to be investing in because it truly is one of the most tech-forward, innovative, and creative cities in the U.S., and it has so much to offer in terms of talent and culture.鈥�

In January, relocated its global headquarters to Austin from San Francisco, saying that it was drawn to the city鈥檚 high quality of outdoor activities, affordable living and desirable housing costs, and the fact that it 鈥渁ttracts top talent from all over the world.鈥�

鈥淎ustin is the perfect tech-friendly city for QuestionPro to place our roots and to drive our business to the next level,鈥� said QuestionPro Founder in a statement. 鈥淚t offers a mix of vibrant startups, incubators, and classic technology corporations that we鈥檙e excited to be a part of.鈥�

At the time, Bhaskaran also told the San Francisco Business Times that he had previously moved the company鈥檚 headquarters to the Bay Area but 鈥渆conomically, could not make it work.鈥�

Expansions

Companies are not only relocating to Austin. They are also expanding.

In March, publicly traded San Francisco-based hired its first chief information officer. That individual, Juan Rodriguez, is based in Austin, not the Bay Area.

The company told me at the time that his appointment marked 鈥渢he first significant management hire since [it] IPOd in September last year.鈥�

Cloudflare first opened an office in Austin in 2016, and it is now one of its 鈥渇astest growing locations,鈥� according to the company. As evidence of that, in March 2019, Cloudflare had 75 Austin-based employees. As of today, that number has more than tripled to 261, and the company is still hiring for another 100 positions, including roles in research and development, sales, engineering, marketing, product, legal, human resources and finance.

In December, Canadian app developer announced it was expanding its operations in Austin, and ramping up hiring in the city. That’s when the company hired its first chief revenue officer, Mike Sanchez, who is now based in the Texas capital.

Bold Commerce has over 90,000 customers and almost 2,000 technology and agency partners, and describes itself as the 鈥渓eading app developer on Shopify.鈥� The startup raised $16.5 million in from and in January 2019.

At the time of the expansion, Bold Commerce CEO and co-founder described Austin as 鈥渢he ideal location for a fast-growing company like ours.鈥�

鈥淭he Austin tech market has grown by 25% over the past five years and is now also home to many tech giants, including Google, Facebook, Oracle, and Apple,鈥� he said in a statement. 鈥淲e are ready to embrace all that Austin has to offer as we fuel our growth and continue to attract great talent.鈥�

COVID effect

With the COVID-19 pandemic forcing companies and employees everywhere to re-evaluate their real estate decisions, it would not be a surprise if that trend continues this year.

In fact, multiple observers say Austin will stay top of mind either way.

鈥淎ustin鈥檚 quality of place, diverse business base, resourcefulness and creativity have provided resiliency even in uncertain times,鈥� said , senior vice president of economic development for the Austin Chamber of Commerce.

, managing partner of Austin-based , believes that the coronavirus crisis has triggered a 鈥渄igital everything鈥� approach that will add fuel to the fire that is Austin鈥檚 growing tech scene.

鈥淭he cost of living, the comfort of conditions, and the 鈥榚asy living鈥� attitude is enough of an attraction,鈥� she told 小蓝视频色情网页版 News. 鈥淲hen times get tough, like it or not, costs have to be cut鈥攁nd real estate is no longer essential to business operation. This changes everything.鈥�

I also talked with the leader of , entrepreneur , who believes Austin is a prime example of a technology center that other cities 鈥渁spire to create and where businesses and talent aspire to relocate.鈥�

And McKenna doesn鈥檛 just talk the talk. He moved to Austin from San Francisco last June.

鈥淎ustin has recreated itself as a tech destination over the past years,鈥� he told me in a phone conversation we had to schedule in lieu of an in-person meeting originally planned for when the COVID-19 pandemic was escalating.

The company is an organization that 鈥渉igh quality jobs and economic opportunity across America鈥� by connecting companies and talent with emerging technology hubs.

In general, One America Works is attempting to help companies see the value of hiring people in markets outside of Silicon Valley and San Francisco, especially as so many are now working remotely.

鈥淚nstead of hiring someone who just graduated from the University of Wisconsin鈥檚 IT program or from The University of Texas, and moving them to California, why not just leave them where they are? It takes the pressure off the housing stock in the Bay Area,鈥� McKenna said, 鈥渨hich makes the quality of life better for the people there. Companies can hire great talent at a lower cost. It鈥檚 a great way to distribute work around the country.鈥�

Indeed, I鈥檝e been seeing all over Twitter that more people are eyeing lower-cost locales such as Austin. An April 27 by CNBC reporter Christina Farr alluding to this got more than 2,300 likes, for example. She said:

鈥淚 have friends who are moving out of NYC and SF because they’re convinced their offices won’t ever re-open. They’re looking at cities like Austin, Denver, Miami, as well as more remote/suburban areas. I wonder how common this will become鈥︹��

So do we, Christina. So do we.

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