A new geographic region is joining the ranks of Silicon Valley and San Francisco as a hotbed for technology start-ups.
“Silicon Beach” is a 3-mile expanse running from Venice to Santa Monica. It currently serves as home to a collection of start-ups such as Viddy, JibJab, Hitfix, ShoeDazzle, BeachMint and Mogreet.
Most of the young Silicon Beach tech companies share a focus on entertainment, celebrity or mobile innovation.
“Cheaper rents than the Bay Area, better weather and proximity to the beach (most of the start-ups are within two blocks of the ocean) make Silicon Beach an attractive place to be,” reports USA Today. “More than 500 tech start-ups have sprouted in sprawling Los Angeles and its environs, according to members of the L.A. tech scene who have compiled the list online as RepresentLA.com. But most of the action is at the beach.”
“There’s been way more interest from up north about what’s happening here in the last 12 months,” says Michael Yanover, head of business development for Creative Artists Agency. “LA has been under the radar, and it’s finally elevating itself.”
Ashish Soni, a professor at USC’s School of Engineering, and executive director of its Digital Innovation lab, says that many of his graduates are opting for local start-ups rather than heading to Seattle or San Francisco.
The area has a longstanding tradition of innovative pioneers (the article cites Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Jack and Sam Warner), so there are some who question the need for a new name. “Why are we rebranding the best brand in the world?” asks JibJab CEO Gregg Spiridellis. “Los Angeles is an amazing city with such a rich heritage of pioneers using technology to create art. Why can’t we just be Los Angeles? Silicon Beach sounds too hip.”
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