Included in this week’s Heartland Tech newsletter is a story I’ve been working on for a few weeks in the hopes that it can shed some more light on how a tech hub gets made — in this case, how the acquisition of ExactTarget by Salesforce for $2.5 billion has shaped the Indianapolis tech community.
I looked at what’s changed in the Indianapolis tech community since the acquisition (more seed capital; more interest in the city from coastal tech companies) and what hasn’t (access to scale-up capital is still difficult; the middle management talent pool is still shallow). The point I tried to hit home: How transformative a large acquisition is for a tech community depends on what executives and employees of that company do afterwards, and if they invest their knowledge and money back into the startup community.
[aditude-amp id="flyingcarpet" targeting='{"env":"staging","page_type":"article","post_id":2370784,"post_type":"story","post_chan":"none","tags":"category-business-industrial,category-news-business-news","ai":false,"category":"none","all_categories":"business,entrepreneur,heartland-tech,","session":"B"}']One point that I want to emphasize from the piece — for all the progress many Indianapolis startup founders feel the city has made, the number of startups that have secured scale-up capital doesn’t show it. Only six companies have raised a series B since 2013, while just two have raised a series C, according to Crunchbase.
This doesn’t mean that the progress the Indianapolis startup community thinks it’s making isn’t real; rather, it’s a reminder of just how many components are needed to create an environment where tech companies can scale to 1,000+ employees. An increase in early-stage startup activity does not indicate that the community has what it takes to support scaling startups — and that’s the next challenge Indianapolis faces.
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I look forward to seeing where the Indianapolis tech community is in another five years.
Thanks for reading, and as always, please send me your thoughts via email. You can also sign up here for VentureBeat’s Heartland Tech newsletter to get this column in your inbox weekly.
Anna Hensel
Heartland Tech Reporter
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How Salesforce’s acquisition of ExactTarget helped Indianapolis’ tech community flourish
ANALYSIS: Five years ago, SaaS giant Salesforce acquired email marketing software company ExactTarget for about $2.5 billion. In Silicon Valley, that type of acquisition would make news — but it wouldn’t be unprecedented. In Indianapolis, where ExactTarget was founded, it was the largest-ever acquisition of a tech company. Cities looking to emulate the Silicon Valley ecosystem often hope […]
Small tech companies will be the next victims of brick-and-mortar’s collapse
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Beyond VB
Big tech’s hot new talent incubator: community college
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The geography of talent shows a gaining Rust Belt and Sunbelt
Data suggests that Rust Belt and Sunbelt cities are adding highly educated adults—but established knowledge and tech hubs continue to dominate on one important measure. (via City Lab)
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Utah tech company Domo goes public amid skepticism
Utah tech unicorn Domo went public Friday and is trading relatively well on an IPO that has been met with skepticism since its initial filing. (via KSL)
StartingBlock Madison is ready to boost Madison’s tech scene
StartingBlock Madison brought in more than 500 visitors to its official soft opening Tuesday as the co-working space and innovation center unveiled its space to the public. (via American Inno)
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