The good times are starting to roll in the New Orleans startup ecosystem.
TechCrunch spoke to local founders and investors for a vibe check: How is the city emerging as a tech hub? A flood of both founders and capital is entering the market; that, coupled with tax and business incentives to keep them there, makes NOLA an attractive place to start a business.
The city minted its first unicorn in 2021 when software company Lucid sold for $1.1 billion to Swedish tech firm Cint Group. That same year, Shutterstock acquired the animation studio TurboSquid for $75 million, and Procore Technologies acquired NOLA-based software construction company Levelset for $500 million.
Of course, there are a few issues NOLA must overcome for it to be a true tech hub, founders and VCs told TechCrunch: There’s a lack of technical talent, making it hard to find local people to hire. And although money has been flowing in, the city needs more capital to keep up.