Artificial intelligence. Software. Ecommerce. Semiconductors and nanotechnology. The Central Coast is a thriving tech hub, home to leading companies, a ripe entrepreneurial ecosystem and two top STEM-focused universities.
Google’s Quantum AI campus, Amazon, Zoom, PayPal and Sonos are some of the household names with operations in Santa Barbara, which newcomer Jackpocket has dubbed the “Silicon Riviera.” Up-and-comers include Appfolio, a cloud-based property management software with a $4.6 billion market capitalization, and Cognixion, a neural-interface start-up that earned investment from the Amazon Alexa Fund.
“Silicon Coast” is what Postal.io calls San Luis Obispo County, which landed on the tech map as wellness juggernaut Mindbody grew from garage to global company. It now has plenty of company, from small scrappy start-ups and mid-size companies attracting M&A deals to the nation’s leading voice for right-to-repair advocacy, iFixit, plus Amazon, which has a growing office in downtown SLO.
Recent Highlights
QAD sees major expansion ahead with $1B Redzone acquisition
Santa Barbara-based QAD has secured its second acquisition in as many months, this time purchasing Florida-based Redzone for a reported $1 billion.
Hortau + Invoca on Top 100 AI Companies to Watch Out for in 2023
Invoca’s AI-powered conversation intelligence platform enables revenue teams to deliver seamless buying experiences while Hortau’s patented irrigation management system has been helping growers keep their plants healthy for decades.
Santa Barbara #8 among America’s fastest-growing startup cities
“If you’re not playing the Silicon Valley growth-at-all-costs game of chasing vanity metrics on a fundraising hamster wheel, you’ll be able to find there is a ton of capital available to you from many committed partners,” said York IE CEO Kyle York.
ASSETS + RESOURCES
Cal Poly-SLO
In addition to a leading engineering program, the computer science program at Cal Poly is consistently rated among the best in the nation. Its undergraduate software engineering major was the first in California, and graduates are heavily recruited by the top firms in the industry, including Google, Microsoft, Apple and Amazon.
UC-Santa Barbara
The birthplace of the practical scanning microscope, UCSB is home to a world-renowned engineering program and an innovative Technology Management program. Its 10 national centers include the Center for Responsible Machine Learning, the Center for Digital Games Research and the Center for Information Technology and Society.
CA Cybersecurity Institute
Bringing together government, the private sector and academia, the California Cybersecurity Institute advances education, workforce development and applied research in cybersecurity, shaping the state’s cyber standards and training cybersecurity professionals.
SLO Partners
SLO Partners offers a range of upskilling and tech apprenticeship programs in full-stack software development, software testing and IT networking to help companies build a pipeline of skilled talent. The nonprofit also provides candidate screening, specialized training and talent matching.
Softec + Ventech
Formerly the MIT Enterprise Forum, Ventech hosts regular events to inform, inspire and connect tech professionals and entrepreneurs. Softec has supported SLO County’s software and technology community for 25 years with monthly networking and educational events as well as advocacy and resource building.
Entrepreneurial ecosystem
The regions is home to a network of startup and small-business support services, a university-affiliated tech park, incubators and coworking spaces as well as venture capital firms, pitch competitions and angel and private equity conferences.
1015
tech + innovation companies
8,265
tech workers
$84k
average annual wages
Technology + Innovation Companies
Click the dots to see companies in the region, and find detailed company, industry and regional data in our data center.
