And Why GE is Moving to Boston
General Electric, one of America’s most storied companies*, is leaving its headquarters in suburban Connecticut to set up shop in Boston. One main reason GE is relocating is to better “attract the talented workers who prefer to live and work in cities.” GE is also moving in order to position itself for a “new industrial era that will revolve around software innovation as much as bended metal.” Without a doubt, GE is looking to benefit from the rapidly growing innovation economy in Boston.
Cities are hubs of culture and innovation and Boston is a prime example. The Boston metropolitan area is home to over 40 museums and 85 private colleges and universities attracting more than 360,000 students from all over the world. With schools like Harvard and MIT graduating some of the best and the brightest, Boston has an ample supply of talent should students decide to stick around.
Additionally, Boston receives the 4th highest amount of venture capital funding of all US Cities. It is also critical to note that “the clustering of similar firms is more important than ever” and the prominent tech ecosystems tend to pull in the top talent (a la Silicon Valley). As the tech industry continues to expand, Boston is making a strong play to become a leading startup hub. Below are some of the companies leading the charge.
21 of the top Boston-based startups:
- Jibo- the world’s first social robot for the home
- Rethink Robotics- developed the world’s first robot with common sense to increase productivity and efficiency in manufacturing environments
- Localytics- brings application marketing & analytics together across the user lifecycle
- Transatomic Power- developing an advanced molten salt reactor that generates clean, safe, proliferation-resistant, low-cost nuclear power
- Circle- send and receive money for free
- Platejoy- personalized meal plans & grocery lists to help you eat healthy and feel great
- Barkly- provides your end-user devices with immunity against modern, zero-day, and lesser-known attacks
- Cambridge Semantics- enterprise analytics and data management software company
- Recorded Future- real-time threat intelligence company
- Formlabs- High-resolution 3D printing. Designed for your desktop
- Zagster- designs, builds and operates bike sharing programs for the world’s leading universities, businesses, hotels, and residential communities
- Yesware- track emails and work more effectively, right from your Gmail or Outlook inbox
- ClearSky Data- global storage network that simplifies the entire data lifecycle and delivers enterprise storage as a fully managed service
- Kinvey- cloud Backend as a Service for any app
- PillPack- a full-service pharmacy that delivers a better, simpler experience
- Boundless- improves education for millions of students and educators through educational resources powered by cloud technology
- Ginger.io- app uses sensor data collected through the phone and self-reported information to identify people who may need help
- Mobee- Crowdsourced market intelligence during path to purchase
- Clypd- platform that automates a data-enhanced sales approach for television advertising
- Help Scout- customer support software that is used and trusted by 5,000+ businesses in over 60 countries
- Placester- helps real estate professionals increase sales and profits through beautiful, search engine-optimized websites and online marketing tools
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- General Electric has been a component of Dow Jones Industrial Average continuously since 1907