Local startups will have the opportunity to expand their business into downtown Phoenix by competing for the chance to receive six months of free rent for office space, providing that the startup can prove that they are ready for that next step.
The building and its owners at 111 West Monroe have begun supporting small startup businesses looking to expand and take advantage of having offices in the business center of Phoenix by establishing a competition for the rent-free space.
“There’s a real trend in our market right now where they are moving away from traditional office space and changing it more into creative space,” said Julie Martens. She works with the Muller Company, which manages the building. “Our ownership is 100 percent behind that.”
The building owners participated in supporting startup week in Phoenix last year and wanted to get more involved with supporting local business.
The competition is open to all startups, but Martens said their office attracts professional service area companies in technology fields and design firms.
“We are judging the candidates by their viability, but also on their innovation and their potential positive impact to the Phoenix market as a whole,” Martens said.
Scott Salkin, CEO and founder of Allbound — last year’s winner of the competition — will be helping the building owners judge and select this year’s winner.
“The more local support we have, the more opportunity our local economy has for long-term, sustained growth,” Salkin said. “Leadership and support like this is critical to economic development, especially for young startups with limited budget and resources.”
The process is straightforward: potential contestants complete an application that asks about their business, their plans for growth and what they plan to give back to the community — among other questions.
“Moving downtown has been great for employee culture, we’ve had the opportunity to get more engaged with the local community, and it’s helped us with recruiting,” Salkin said. “The free rent has also been a huge benefit for us as a startup, every dollar counts when you’re growing a new company.”
Since moving in to 111 West Monroe, Allbound has seen success after its initial six-month stay and is continuing to grow.
“Since moving into 111 W. Monroe, we’ve grown from three employees to 15, raised more than $1.6M in venture capital, and established ourselves for long-term growth in our market,” Salkin said.
One of the candidates in this year’s competition is Vidfall, which recently moved from New Hampshire to Phoenix specifically for the area’s growing support and positive environment for startups.
“When we decided to move, we were thinking Los Angeles,” said Steve Messa, COO of Vidfall. But one of their investors immediately pointed out why Phoenix was the better choice.
“He told us, ‘you can go to Los Angeles, but it’s a huge startup market, you’re going to be alone and it’s going to be very expensive, but you could go to Phoenix,’” Messa said.
Messa said the opportunity to have a space for his employees – and to not share space with other startups — has some big advantages.
“Just being in the downtown area also allows you to be right next to the local talent from some of the universities,” he said. “The big advantage is the ability to develop a culture you want for your company that you just don’t get at a shared space.”
Contact the reporter at aborund1@asu.edu
