Atlanta Mayor Andre Dickens met with TechCrunch to help launch our first TechCrunch Live event for the city and spoke to us about the rapidly expanding tech landscape.
Atlanta is home to many bustling industries, including fintech and SaaS, and is also the home of many investors looking to support the city’s startups. Well-known unicorns in town include Calendly, FullStory and Kabbage. According to PitchBook, Atlanta startups have raised approximately $1.65 billion, the second-highest sum allocated to the city in recent years. So it makes sense why even the Atlanta Hawks and record label Quality Control have launched funds and investment portfolios.
Dickens was born and raised in Atlanta. Before he became mayor, he had extensive technical knowledge. He said it’s “phenomenal to see this city evolving from a charming Southern gem to an international city, one of the epicenters of the tech ecosystem,” before giving a slight nod to all the companies settling there: Microsoft , Porsche, just to name a few.
He said people are drawn to Atlanta for the culture, business productivity, ease of travel and low cost of living compared to other tech hubs like Austin and especially San Francisco. The city is also a natural source of talent, being home to Georgia Tech and historically black colleges and universities like Morehouse and Spelman.
“Companies come here because they have access to all this great talent,” he continued. “Technological growth is happening right here because of this talent.”
One reason for tension for talent looking to relocate to Atlanta might be that the city in the historically red state of Georgia is politically blue. This means that if a massive policy change is implemented, such as one affecting women’s health, the blue bubble may not be enough to protect founders from such changes. However, Dickens said that change may be on the way: Georgia voted for Biden and brought two Democrats, Raphael Warnock and Jon Ossoff, into the Senate. This has made the city’s political alignment purple, he said, which bodes well for the state and, by extension, the city.
“This keeps us at the center of all political discussions,” he continued. “Republicans, Democrats and others want to do business in Atlanta; People want to do business in Georgia.”
Dicken said one of his key interests is ensuring equity and opportunities for more people to enter the tech sector, particularly for those looking to overcome generational poverty. For example, he said the city has focused on promoting technology certifications, not just four-year degrees. He also wants to make sure companies moving to the city are taking advantage of the talent and resources there.
However, there’s also a chance that as Atlanta grows, it falls victim to its own success, with the cost of living skyrocketing and workers displaced. Dickens said the city wanted balanced growth that would not impact the city’s old residents. One way of doing this is for him to be explicit about what his expectations are for companies looking to build in the city. “I can’t agree with any incentives for your company to come here if you don’t have a local hiring plan,” he said.
At the end of the interview, I asked Twitter for questions. A woman asked about the availability of free co-working spaces, to which the mayor replied it was worth checking. The final question from the audience was about the famous Atlanta water babies who stand on the side of the road selling water to people in cars.
“Has there been any consideration of efforts to convert these kids on the street into early technology programs?” asked the viewer.
“We actually do,” Dickens said. He said the city is working to get them involved in entrepreneurship programs so the kids can hone their skills as natural entrepreneurs. “We can’t just get them to sell water right away because they could get hurt,” the mayor said, adding that they are working to add her to the talent pipeline. “We would like to do this ten times.”
Watch the entire panel as part of our Atlanta City Spotlight here.
