Two of Atlanta’s leading startup hubs merge to allow a greater focus on increasing diversity in technology

ATLANTA, October 30, 2015 — TechSquare Labs, a technology innovation hub for startups and corporations, today announced their merger with Opportunity Hub, the largest diverse and inclusive entrepreneurship center and multi-campus coworking space in the nation. Opportunity Hub’s Founder and CEO, Rodney Sampson, joins the TechSquare Labs team as the Chief of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives. Together with Paul Judge and Allen Nance, Sampson will focus on creating curriculum, products and solutions to increase diversity and inclusion in tech, build a platform to start, accelerate, incubate and fund diverse co-founding teams, help corporates meet their own internal strategies, goals, and initiatives in this area and bridge the divide between corporate innovation and supplier diversity.

TechSquare Labs offers 25,000 SqFt of innovations labs and coworking space, including an incubator, venture fund, and corporate innovation programing in Technology Square, an Opportunity Zone and ground zero for innovation in the Southeast.

The team uses their prime location and business experience to leverage connections between corporations, technical cofounders, and educational institutions – accelerating startups and fostering innovation within large enterprises. By bringing on Sampson and merging with Opportunity Hub, TechSquare Labs will broaden their program offerings and become a champion for inclusion in the technology sector.

“Over the last 3 years, Opportunity Hub has led the nation in launching diverse and inclusive startup and technology ecosystems garnering greater access to vetted mentorship and early stage capital for minorities and women,” said Sampson. “TechSquare Lab’s Cofounders Paul Judge and Allen Nance have a proven track record of starting and investing in scalable companies that create jobs and increase shareholder value.

Their willingness to invest in the building of a diverse and inclusive end-to-end technology ecosystem demonstrates their commitment to developing Atlanta’s economy and our city’s attractiveness to the global markets.”

Atlanta is home to some of the largest coding schools in the Southeast, a quarter million higher education students, and two of the top five historically black colleges and universities. This talent pool combined with the burgeoning startup scene and concentration of large corporations, creates an unparalleled opportunity to Build Something from Nothing at TechSquare Labs.

TechSquare Labs’ first diversity initiative includes the launch of a pilot code school and cofounder’s college in collaboration with Atlanta’s Workforce Development Agency. Lead by Michael Sterling, the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency has committed up to $200,000 toward the training of new software engineers (coders) from underserved and underrepresented communities in the City of Atlanta.