Oakland is attracting tech companies that would have gone to San Francisco or Silicon Valley in the past, and VCs and developers are taking notice.
Investor Vas Natarajan says while his company, Accel Partners, didn’t have a presence in the city five years ago, he’s now “crossing the bridge more than ever,” according to the San Jose Mercury News. JLL expects momentum will really start gathering once Uber moves into the seven-story Uptown Station (formerly the Sears building) on Broadway and opens its doors for business. Uber will join established tech companies Pandora and Ask.com in Oakland.
Cost-conscious entrepreneurs are increasingly turning to Oakland for office space. Mayor Libby Schaaf is actively courting startups and assuring techies and developers that Oakland is business-friendly. In 2014, the city created a special liaison between government and the startup community to facilitate better communication. [SJMC]
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