Atlanta’s TechSquare Labs (TSL) has only been in its current location – a former Office Depot – for about a year. Yet the 25,000-square foot facility, a peach seed’s throw away from Georgia Tech, is filling up fast with entrepreneurs, mentors and valuable resources for turning potential million-dollar ideas into reality.
Those resources now include access to the Google for Entrepreneurs (GFE) network.
The search giant and TSL on Wednesday jointly announced a partnership that would make the Tech Square incubator and co-working space the Atlanta home for the GFE Network. Startup founders will get access to Google funding, training and products like its Cloud Platform for Startups, along with work space and mentorships.
Tanya Sam, TechSquare Labs’ director of innovation partnerships, says those services and the partnership will help cement TSL as a top local incubator, one that provides special events and programming geared to help startups with advice on funding, marketing and talent searches. But it’s GFE’s reach – 200,000 global entrepreneurs working out of 25 similar work space facilities in more than 125 countries – that provides special benefits for Atlanta.
“It’s being able to team up with these startup partnerships around the world,” Sam said. “This helps our startups scale and connect to partners globally, along with that access to a world-class network of physical spaces where our members can join in the Passport program, so entrepreneurs can work for free at these other tech hub spaces and make those deeper connections.”
It also helps TechSquare Labs sink more roots into the local startup community. The incubator was started by Paul Judge and Allen Nance, who are using their entrepreneurial successes to build up the local tech ecosystem. Judge’s background is in cybersecurity; he built and sold CipherTrust, is the founder of Pindrop and an investor in Ionic Security. Nance made his name in marketing technology with email marketing firm WhatCounts, and has co-founded Springbot to help e-commerce marketers.
“We’re thrilled to have Google come to Atlanta, especially by partnering with TechSquare Labs,” Sam said. “We really feel it helps to expand what we’re doing in Atlanta and showcase us on a national platform as you’ve seen with all the fundraising and all the exciting things that have been happening.”
Sam was referring to specific developments like Ionic Security’s latest funding round, including heavyweights Amazon and Goldman Sachs, as well as the general perception that Atlanta’s tech startup community is a vibrant one. Like other co-working spaces that have popped up in Midtown and Buckhead over the past two years, TechSquare Labs serves that community and sees it as a key pillar in Atlanta’s economic foundation.
“We’re trying to do such big things that we need all the help we can get,” Sam said. “We’re a great city poised to do great things. We’re happy to have great partners helping us along the way.”
In a news release, Genna Mckeel, partnership manager for Google for Entrepreneuers is quoted as saying, “We are thrilled to expand our North America Tech Hub Network by partnering with TechSquare Labs in Atlanta. TechSquare Labs focuses on delivering inspiration to game changers and has deep expertise building a thriving community of startups, working closely with other leaders in the startup ecosystem. We look forward to connecting their members with our global partner network and working more closely with startups in Atlanta.” 
[Image Credits: Header, Renay San Miguel; Lower: TechSquare Labs]
