Startup Activity Plunges in Orlando, National Analysis Shows

According to a nationwide analysis, Orlando fell from 21st to 33rd nationally for “startup activity.” Meanwhile, Canvs, Orlando’s tech startup hub, is losing its founder who will move to Seattle to take a new tech job.

The City of Orlando has been attempting to re-brand itself as a hub for startup and entrepreneurial activity, but a new nationwide analysis found Orlando is losing ground and possibly momentum. Orlando fell from 21st to 33rd in the country for “startup activity” among the 40 major American metro areas. Meanwhile, startup activity nationwide enjoyed the biggest increase in two decades and Miami ranks number 2 in the nation for startup activity. This is a major red flag to the narrative being pushed by City Hall and Mayor Buddy Dyer.

The Tampa Bay Times explained “the magnitude of both metro area declines is concerning because they are among the largest drops in 40 major metro markets analyzed. They suggest a loss of momentum.”

This is not the first time actual data conflicts with the narrative being told publicly in Orlando. Could it be that tech entrepreneurs are giving up on Orlando? Maybe the “Nerds love Orlando” marketing and re-branding campaign isn’t quite paying off for local officials?

Earlier this year, the NY Times ripped apart Mayor Dyer’s public relations materials and called out Orlando attempts to be a “high tech hub for innovation.”

“The hard data does not bear out the proposition that nerds love Orlando…Research from the Brookings Institution, based on figures from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, tells a rather more conventional story,” the NY Times stated. The NY Times also analyzed relevant data on the sector. Among the 100 largest metropolitan areas in the country, Orlando ranked 73rd in “advanced industry” employment as a share of total employment — and placed 78th in advanced industry employment growth from 2010 to 2013. In terms of counties showing the strongest gain in tech jobs from 2009 to 2013, Orange County, which contains Orlando, scored 89th out of 214.

Ironically, just this week, Phil Holt, a leader of the tech and entrepreneur community in Orlando, announced he is moving to Seattle to take a new job with a game developer. Holt was the founder of Canvs, a non-profit set up specifically dedicated to Orlando tech startups and growing local companies. “Canvs was designed to be the front door to the technology community,” its website states.

While not indicative of anything major or wide-spread, it is just another example that for Orlando’s top talent like Holt, better opportunities exist elsewhere, not in Orlando. Even for the people leading the startup and tech community efforts locally.

The analysis is also a signal that Orlando has a lot of work to do before making big assumptions or promises on the matter. It signals there is a need to level local expectations with reality instead of the political hype from local elected officials. As the NY Times wrote: “It is also possible to set more modest goals.”

The nationwide analysis was produced by the Kauffman Foundation, a “think tank dedicated to entrepreneurship and one of the leading third-party experts on the subject of business startups,” according to the Tampa Bay Times. Ranking states, Florida remained in the top 10 but fell to 9th overall nationwide and outpaced California, Texas and New York.