‘Silicon Valley of The Midwest’ Wins
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowThe president of the Americas for Emarsys says Indianapolis beat out technology heavyweights Austin and San Francisco to land the cloud marketing company’s North American headquarters. Sean Brady, a former vice president at Indianapolis-based ExactTarget, says the choice came down to talent, hospitality and location. Austria-based Emarsys is investing $3.2 million into expanding its downtown office and adding nearly 170 jobs over the next five years. The state could kick in nearly $4 million as part of conditional tax and training incentives.
Brady says the work force is driven by the continued investment in Indianapolis tech companies by outside venture capital firms. Verge Founder Matt Hunckler agrees, saying the talent is here "to build great marketing-tech companies and investors have taken note."
He adds the state is well-known for highly-respected customer service, which factored heavily into selecting the location for operations that will handle clients such as eBay, Toys "R" Us, Yahoo and Volvo. He says the company is proud to be a part of the "next center for technology innovation."
Emarsys Chief Operating Officer Ohad Hecht agrees and says Indy’s timezone and location made a difference. "The Eastern Time Zone is ideal for conducting business on both American coasts, Europe and in Asia. Additionally, companies like Geofeedia, Tinderbox and Interactive Intelligence have helped make the area attractive to a highly talented workforce. In fact, the Midwest has a higher concentration of Fortune 500 companies than any other region in the country, according to Forbes, not to mention a bevy of world-class engineering schools."
Emarsys has over 450 associates at more than a dozen global locations. It currently employs more than 20 in Indianapolis. Emarsys’ clients number more than 1,200 in 140 countries.
TechPoint CEO Mike Langellier said in an email to Inside INdiana Business, "Emarsys’ expansion to Indy reinforces the city’s dominance as a marketing technology hub. In the past decade, the Indy tech community has had at least 17 acquisitions or IPOs, transactions that unleashed $5 billion in market value. More than $3 billion came from marketing technology companies like ExactTarget, Aprimo, Autobase and Compendium."