The Hype: The Rise of Atlanta Corporate Innovation Centers

The Atlanta tech startup scene continues to grow and thrive as more innovative ventures set up shop in the metro area. In fact, Forbes ranks Atlanta the # 3 rising city for startups, having generated $1.2 billion dollars in venture capital investments. Keeping up with this ever-changing and evolving environment since 2012 is Hypepotamus, a popular digital online publication that covers the southeastern innovation economy and tech ecosystem. Today, we speak to the editor-in-chief of Hypepotamus, Holly Beilin.

Hypepotamus is a digital publication based here in Atlanta that covers innovation and tech across seven states in the southeast region. Originally started as a co-working space by local entrepreneurs, Hype would let any entrepreneur or would-be founder work at their space for free. This was part of an initiative to give back to the metro Atlanta community. However, when a number of other co-working spaces moved into the market, Hype transitioned into the digital publication it is today.

Focusing primarily on innovation, Hype covers everything from startups to tech to government, to corporations. In 2018, Hypepotamus saw huge growth in the startup tech scene with these highlights that include:

• Atlanta’s new accelerator, The Farm, located near The Battery at the Suntrust Park which graduated 20 diverse startups
• The arrival of Techstars at Ponce City Market
• David Payne (formerly of Innovation Stockyard) is taking over as managing director for Techstars

In addition to keeping our eyes on these accelerators, 2019 will also offer more growth for the Atlanta corporate innovation scene which continues to thrive. The corporate incubators that take up residence at Tech Square will continue to push out new and exciting products. For example, Georgia Pacific just opened up a new supply chain corporate innovation center. Accenture also opened their new innovation at the end of last year. If you want to switch careers or are just graduating, the possibilities in Atlanta are endless.

There are also a lot of events coming up in February that you don’t want to miss like:

• 48 in 48: Programmers get together and build 48 websites for 48 non-profits in 48 hours
• Superbowl Startup Pitch: Hosted by ATDC in Georgia Tech, startups from all over the country will come to pitch in the areas of sports performance, and health and safety.

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