Opportunity Hub and TechSquare Labs Merge; Rodney Sampson Joins Team as Chief of Diversity

Rodney Sampson
Rodney Sampson

TechSquare Labs, a seed fund and technology innovation hub for startups and corporations, today announced their merger with Opportunity Hub, the largest diverse and inclusive entrepreneurship center and multi-campus coworking space in the nation. Opportunity Hub’s Founder and CEO, Rodney Sampson, joins the TechSquare Labs team as the Chief of Diversity and Inclusion Initiatives.
 
Dr. Paul Judge
Dr. Paul Judge

Together with Paul Judge andAllen Nance, Sampson will focus on creating curriculum, products and solutions to increase diversity and inclusion in tech, build a platform to start, accelerate, incubate and fund diverse co-founding teams, help corporates meet their own internal strategies, goals, and initiatives in this area and bridge the divide between corporate innovation and supplier diversity.
Allen Nance
Allen Nance

TechSquare Labs offers 25,000 SqFt of innovations labs and coworking space, including an incubator, venture fund, and corporate innovation programing in Technology Square, an Opportunity Zone and ground zero for innovation in the Southeast. The team uses their prime location and business experience to leverage connections between corporations, technical cofounders, and educational institutions – accelerating startups and fostering innovation within large enterprises. By bringing on Sampson and merging with Opportunity Hub, TechSquare Labs will broaden their program offerings and become a champion for inclusion in the technology sector.
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“Over the last 3 years, Opportunity Hub has led the nation in launching diverse and inclusive startup and technology ecosystems garnering greater access to vetted mentorship and early stage capital for minorities and women,” said Sampson. “TechSquare Lab’s Cofounders Paul Judge an Allen Nance have a proven track record of starting and investing in scalable companies that create jobs and increase shareholder value. Their willingness to invest in the building of a diverse and inclusive end-to-end technology ecosystem demonstrates their commitment to developing Atlanta’s economy and our city’s attractiveness to the global markets.”
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Atlanta is home to some of the largest coding schools in the Southeast, a quarter million higher education students, and two of the top five historically black colleges and universities. This talent pool combined with the burgeoning startup scene and concentration of large corporations, creates an unparalleled opportunity to Build Something from Nothing at TechSquare Labs.
TechSquare Labs’ first diversity initiative includes the launch of a pilot code school and cofounder’s college in collaboration with Atlanta’s Workforce Development Agency. Led by Michael Sterling, the Atlanta Workforce Development Agency has committed up to $200,000 toward the training of new software engineers (coders) from underserved and underrepresented communities in the City of Atlanta.
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“It’s a step in the right direction for bridging the digital literacy divide in Atlanta by focusing energy on traditionally underserved youth, helping them get access to the skills they need to become coders as well as learn about being an entrepreneur,” said Michael Sterling, executive director of the agency. “It also helps businesses fulfill some of the gaps they have and experienced in finding qualified people.”
 
The code school and cofounder’s college will be led by Rodney Sampson, who has a long track-record of creating inclusive platforms and advocating for minorities and women in the technology market:
 

  • Launched Kingonomics, the best selling book, advocacy and thought leadership platform for increasing diversity and inclusion in the innovation, entrepreneurship and investment ecosystems.
  • Created the diversity and inclusion initiatives for Mark Burnett Productions (One Three Media), the Executive Producers of Sharktank, A.D, Son of God and The Voice. In this role, he trained and advisedMark Burnett and the company’s key executives on diversifying and creating a more inclusive culture which resulted in the hiring of more minorities, an increased focus on outreach to minority entrepreneurial organizations and communities and an increase of the number of minorities and women that pitch each season on the show. Sampson also negotiated for Lady Gaga’s former manager turned venture capitalist, Troy Carter, to appear on Sharktank as a Guest Shark.
  • Partnered with the White House and Obama Administration on their Inclusive Entrepreneurship and TechHire Initiatives.
  • Founded Opportunity Hub, the 3rd largest entrepreneurial center in Atlanta; and nation’s largest majority minority owned coworking space, pre-accelerator and incubator dedicated to developing more talent and high growth startups from both underrepresented and underserved communities. Opportunity Hub produces over 300 educational events and classes per year, has pre-accelerated 25 startups, and awarded over $60,000 in code school scholarships. The startups in the Opportunity Hub ecosystem have raised over $5,000,000 in pre-seed and seed capital.
  • As a champion for minority access to capital, Sampson was awarded the Commerce Department’s Minority Business Development Agency 2015 Access To Capital Award.

“Rodney is an innovator, pioneer and respected authority in the inclusive innovation space,” said Dr. Paul Judge, Cofounder of TechSquare Labs. “He is the perfect person to lead our diversity initiatives to not only build companies, but also opportunities for everyone in our community and beyond.”
 
About TechSquare Labs
 
TechSquare Labs is an incubator, seed fund and 25k sf of coworking and corporate innovation space. We are driven to Build Something From Nothing with companies ranging from two guys and a laptop to established enterprises looking to stay ahead of the pack. We do this by combining experience in patents, research, and team building with a network that spans from freshman coders to Fortune 500 CEO’s.
TechSquare Labs is in Atlanta for its incredible density of educational institutions, enterprises, and entertainment. Over 250,000 students call Atlanta home along with 27 Fortune 1000 companies that generate nearly a half a trillion dollars in revenue. The city drew in $6 billion from film production budgets in the last fiscal year alone. We have hung our hat in the middle of it all in Technology Square. In addition to a cluster of corporate innovation labs and startups, the area is swarming with tech talent from Georgia Tech – where more engineers graduate than MIT and Stanford combined.
 
TechSquare Labs was founded by Dr. Paul Judge and Allen Nance, two technology entrepreneurs with a track record of building, advising, and investing in successful technology companies.


About Opportunity Hub
Founded in 2013 by Rodney Sampson, Earl Coleman, Bradley Kirklandand Brandon Rickman, Opportunity Hub (OHUB) built the largest majority minority owned multi-campus entrepreneurial center that includes 17,500+ square feet of coworking space, pre-accelerator, code school, and incubator. OHUB is also the vetted seal of authentic diversity and inclusion in the startup ecosystem, capital markets and beyond.
OHUB’s definitive mission is to create and develop a diverse and inclusive highly skilled, competitive and innovative talent pool that will ideate, launch, start and scale high growth companies as entrepreneurs or “intrapreneurs”. Creating and managing an end-to end pipeline via targeted market exposure, intense engagement, immersive education and ongoing mentorship are definitive to accomplishing our mission. Our innovators and entrepreneurs also gain access to authentic advisors, innovative practices, essential resources, meaningful connections and smart capital – in sectors such as consumer facing technology, consumer products goods, supply chain innovation (and diversity) and social impact.
 

Created with the startup and early stage company in mind, OHUB is for anyone that is serious about working in an environment of like-minded entrepreneurs and committed to learning, implementing and sharing the knowledge, best practices and relationships formed while in our ecosystem. Via curated mentors and experts in residence, we teach our coworkers and stakeholders how to effectively navigate the innovation, entrepreneurship & investment ecosystem with confidence and definitive purpose. We also mentor new angels and “nano angels” on how to invest in startups and early stage companies.
OHUB merged with TechSquare Labs in October 2015. OHUB will continue its mission of creating inclusive opportunity ecosystems from the ground up with an expansion to the nation’s capital.

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