Charlotte Tech News

[KJHburg]

Since Moodys Investor Services is somewhat a tech hub for them here in Charlotte will put this here.

Remember this company came to town first at wework now in some space Allstate had in the Railyard. 81,700 sq ft to be exact.

""Moody's first local office had just 40 employees. The new space has room for 500 across four floors, with about 300 people already on board, Ryker said. The lease runs through 2030.""

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/05/18/moodys-office-south-end-railyard-innovation-collab.html

 

[KJHburg]

Miami based fintech firm Genesis Global looks to  grow here in Charlotte.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/profiles/2022/06/01/genesis-global-fintech-software-platform.html

Edited June 1, 2022 by KJHburg

[KJHburg]

Local health tech firm gets major investment from Bain Capital.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/fundings/2022/06/08/leantaas-mohan-giridharadas-bain-capital-majority.html

[davidclt]

2 hours ago, KJHburg said:

Local health tech firm gets major investment from Bain Capital.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/fundings/2022/06/08/leantaas-mohan-giridharadas-bain-capital-majority.html

I'm thinking private equity is increasingly a trojan horse (see Belk, Toys 'R Us, Tribune Media nee Tronc nee Tribune, McClatchy, et al.) demanding payment for the piper or loading businesses with debt and cashing out.

[atlrvr]

I'd suggest that's an unfair generalization.  It just as easy to say Private Equity breeds some of the worlds greatest companies such as Google.

The main differentiator though between the failed examples above is those companies were all "mature" companies suffering revenue and profit slowdown, vs a company such as LeanTAAS that is clearly in high growth mode where new equity is going to help the company expand at a faster rate.

[KJHburg]

Zipline is now making drone deliveries of prescriptions from its Kannapolis facility to homes. 

https://wraltechwire.com/2022/06/28/novant-health-expands-partnership-with-zipline-for-on-demand-medication-delivery-by-drone/

[KJHburg]

CBRE is out with their Tech Talent  Market Report

Don't let anyone tell you that Charlotte is not a tech powerhouse because we are check out the total number of employees. 

Here is comparisons between Charlotte CLT , Raleigh Durham RDU  and Nashville BNA

Total Tech workers   CLT 61,950,  RDU 69,050,   BNA 36,110

Where they work?  Core Tech companies 29% CLT, 56% in RDU, 33% in BNA     FIRE(Finance Insurance Real estate) 25% CLT, 11% in RDU, 14% in BNA   Health care is 16% in BNA their 2nd place where they work. 

5 year employment growth in the 3 markets     CLT 21.8% , RDU 10.8%,  BNA 29.4% 

Rent to Tech Wage ratio:  lower the number the more affordable given the wages:    CLT 17.4%  RDU 17.9%  BNA  20.6% 

Average wages in 3 markets   CLT $98,875      RDU   $109,663    BNA $86,212

download your own report    https://www.cbre.com/insights/books/scoring-tech-talent-2022

 

Other news my nephew's wife just got her first career job at Lendingtree another UNC Charlotte Data Analytics grad.  So proud! Plus a Class AA office location as I told her. 

 

 

 

[KJHburg]

Here is  a good summary story about what I posted above.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/07/20/cbre-tech-talent-workforce-technology-career-jobs.html

""The city's tech labor had the eighth-largest gain across North American tech markets, with 22% growth between 2016 and 2021, the report showed. The highest increase in demographics was the millennial population, ages 25 to 39, at 13.9% between 2015 and 2020. The number of Gen Z tech employees, ages 20 to 24, increased 4.4% over the same time frame.

Charlotte stood out in the report in several other key areas:

Between 2017 and 2021, 11,100 tech jobs were created, compared to 8,048 tech graduates between 2016 to 2020, underscoring that tech job opportunities are drawing people into the metro.
The average annual office asking rent is the 14th-most expensive at $32.27 per square foot, per year.
The average monthly apartment rent is the 24th-most expensive at $1,430.
The rent-to-tech wage ratio ranked 29th at 17.4%.
In the last five years, tech talent wages have risen 7.2% to an average $98,875 across all tech occupations.""
 

[KJHburg]

London based fintech startup sees Charlotte as their key to US expansion.  Interesting comments in the article. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/07/25/spin-analytics-fintech-banking-tech-credit-risk.html

""“You can walk around on foot and visit all of the banks in Charlotte,” Skliamis says. “You cannot do that in New York or in Atlanta. You can probably do it in Singapore, but not in London.”   Charlotte’s banking culture is a key advantage, Skliamis says, because introducing a new B2B product on the market is 80% psychology and 20% technology, he says. Executives need to meet the people behind Spin Analytics and be introduced to RISKROBOT to believe in it.   “Someone walks into a coffee shop and sees a colleague at a competing bank. They might say, ‘Have you heard about RISKROBOT?,’ and they will say, ‘Yes, we are using it.’ Charlotte has that unique advantage.”   Spin Analytics is building a team in Charlotte and hopes to create a hub here for its U.S. expansion. By the end of the year, Spin Analytics expects to have opened a Charlotte office space.""

[KJHburg]

In other news Charlotte based tech workers are paid 85% of what their San Fran counterparts make but that is higher than it would be expected.  

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/07/25/charlotte-tech-pay-versus-silicon-valley-salaries.html

[BarrenLucidity]

7 hours ago, KJHburg said:

In other news Charlotte based tech workers are paid 85% of what their San Fran counterparts make but that is higher than it would be expected.  

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/07/25/charlotte-tech-pay-versus-silicon-valley-salaries.html

85% of the pay with 50% of the COL. Charlotte workers come out ahead. 

 

[Matthew.Brendan]

16 hours ago, BarrenLucidity said:

50% of the COL

Not even close to true.

[Blue_Devil]

Just now, Matthew.Brendan said:

Not even close to true.

Are you saying Charlotte COL is comparable to SF? Having to frequently work in SF and live here… I agree with the original statement. Unless you are talking about entire Bay Area

[KJHburg]

Here is a simple calculator 

https://www.nerdwallet.com/cost-of-living-calculator/compare/san-francisco-ca-vs-charlotte-nc

and it does indeed say cost of living is 50% less in Charlotte compared to San Francisco   Housing obviously is a big part of it, but so is transportation costs, insurance and everything else. 

[Matthew.Brendan]

No I’m not saying Charlotte COL is the same as San Francisco, but it’s certainly not 50% either. Groceries are not 50% the cost, not even gas is. Utilizes, no, taxes, no. Charlotte is cheaper, yes, but nowhere near half the cost. Housing is what throws everything out of wack. Remove that and the differences are more clear. 
 

[Prodev]

17 minutes ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

Housing is what throws everything out of wack. Remove that and the differences are more clear. 
 

 

This is fine to do if you're comparing the homeless population in the two cities, but otherwise you can't really just ignore the largest expense in people's monthly budget. 

[InSouthPark]

7 minutes ago, Prodev said:

This is fine to do if you're comparing the homeless population in the two cities, but otherwise you can't really just ignore the largest expense in people's monthly budget. 

Now now.  I am sure most tech workers in SF just live with their parents their entire lives so housing costs mean nothing to cost of living. LOL.

I know my cost of living would be much less if I could just get rid of this pesky mortgage.

[Blue_Devil]

1 minute ago, InSouthPark said:

Now now.  I am sure most tech workers in SF just live with their parents their entire lives so housing costs mean nothing to cost of living. LOL.

I know my cost of living would be much less if I could just get rid of this pesky mortgage.

 

45 minutes ago, Matthew.Brendan said:

No I’m not saying Charlotte COL is the same as San Francisco, but it’s certainly not 50% either. Groceries are not 50% the cost, not even gas is. Utilizes, no, taxes, no. Charlotte is cheaper, yes, but nowhere near half the cost. Housing is what throws everything out of wack. Remove that and the differences are more clear. 
 

I mean… you can’t take away arguably the biggest COL factor for 99% of the population and then say it’s not 50%. 

[JRCLT]

No I’m not saying Charlotte COL is the same as San Francisco, but it’s certainly not 50% either. Groceries are not 50% the cost, not even gas is. Utilizes, no, taxes, no. Charlotte is cheaper, yes, but nowhere near half the cost. Housing is what throws everything out of wack. Remove that and the differences are more clear. 
 
http://content.invisioncic.com/x329420/monthly_2022_07/image.thumb.png.f893df630f5ca9529ceb6966e2942e4e.png

Averaging those ( it is valid mathematical and statistical approach ) you get around 65% the cost of living. So not exactly far from 50% but not extremely close.

https://www.numbeo.com/cost-of-living/compare_cities.jsp?country1=United+States&country2=United+States&city1=Charlotte%2C+NC&city2=San+Francisco%2C+CA

Consumer Prices in San Francisco, CA are 38.17% higher than in Charlotte, NC (without rent)
Consumer Prices Including Rent in San Francisco, CA are 52.80% higher than in Charlotte, NC
Rent Prices in San Francisco, CA are 74.16% higher than in Charlotte, NC
Restaurant Prices in San Francisco, CA are 41.36% higher than in Charlotte, NC
Groceries Prices in San Francisco, CA are 44.48% higher than in Charlotte, NC

[KJHburg]

Other tech news from the Charlotte region.

Charlotte firm helping at Oak Ridge Laboratories in TN with 3-D printing titanium 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/07/26/iperionx-titanium-3d-printing-aerospace-trucking.html

Sports tech firm based in Charlotte doing interesting work with digital feedback anonymously 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/07/26/former-nascar-exec-joins-realresponse-sports-tech.html

[wilmore]

On 7/25/2022 at 8:58 AM, KJHburg said:

In other news Charlotte based tech workers are paid 85% of what their San Fran counterparts make but that is higher than it would be expected.  

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/07/25/charlotte-tech-pay-versus-silicon-valley-salaries.html

Not sure if I buy this, the study is using "capital-backed companies" for some reason, which are not even close to the typical "SF tech salary" payers. Most people are thinking of FAANG engineers or other front-office roles when they talk about SF/SV pay rates (~$200K for a lot of entry-level roles), and I'm not aware of any major Charlotte employer coming close to that. 

That said, working for an SF-based company and living in Charlotte is an amazing combo! 

 

[15895]

Median Household Income 

Charlotte:  $85,897

San Francisco: $140,720

People likely wouldn't move to Charlotte to lower their housing cost and save money... they'd more than likely move to Charlotte to get a bigger house and a nicer car and be in the same amount of debt and be in the same financial situation. Depends on what one values. Big suburban home with a yard or a global city with a population density of 18K.

 

Edited July 26, 2022 by AirNostrumMAD

[KJHburg]

Local upstart Atom Power raises $111 million from South Korean company to expand even further.

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/08/18/atom-power-equity-funding-sk-energy-ev-charging.html

[KJHburg]

Charlotte based drone company that does pressure washing cleaning commercially.   Next time I need to clean the exterior of my house I need to call these guys. 

https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/08/19/lucid-drone-technologies-cleaning-startups.html

They even cleaned the Mercedes Benz Dome in Atlanta. 

https://www.luciddronetech.com/

Drones not just for photos anymore!

[JRCLT]

Charlotte based drone company that does pressure washing cleaning commercially.   Next time I need to clean the exterior of my house I need to call these guys. 
https://www.bizjournals.com/charlotte/inno/stories/news/2022/08/19/lucid-drone-technologies-cleaning-startups.html
They even cleaned the Mercedes Benz Dome in Atlanta. 
https://www.luciddronetech.com/
Drones not just for photos anymore!

I’m dying to see a drone light show.