There’s no doubt that 2016 had its fair share of big news stories, perhaps more than its fair share. The tech community, too, made some big splashes and brought the fast-growing sector to the forefront a number of times. Here are some of the stories that stood out this year.

Real Estate

Announcing Salesforce Tower Indianapolis

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The largest real estate announcement came from Salesforce and their purchase of the Chase Tower. Coming Spring 2017, the tallest building in Indianapolis will adorn the name of a tech company, and with it a pledge to add 800 jobs over the next five years. READ MORE.

Indy ranked tenth in tech-firm office deals

Downtown Indianapolis attracted multiple tech companies in 2016, so much so that we ranked tenth for tech-firm office deals out of 45 cities surveyed. READ MORE.

The Speak Easy co-working and collaboration space also opened a second location this year, the first outside of the the original Broad Ripple address. The Speak Easy Downtown is now open at the historic Morrison Opera House building at 47 S. Meridian St.

Indy’s new scale-up focused tech campus impresses

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Coworking spaces continued to thrive with new companies launching weekly. Scale-up companies – those rapidly emerging, younger, high-growth companies that are past start-up stage – need somewhere to grow. Offering flexible leasing and space at 5,000 square feet and up, The Union is currently home for SmartFile and Springbuk and will be a new hub for tech innovation. READ MORE.

Purdue announces $1 billion development district

The Purdue Research Foundation and Browning Investment have partnered on a $1.2 billion Purdue Innovation District, which includes as much as 7 million square feet of interior building space including a hotel with conference center; restaurants; retail, office and business spaces; parks; research facilities; and industrial space. The project is slated to take place over a 15-20-year period and has been lauded for its potential impact as a catalyst for innovation, collaboration, and entrepreneurship. READ MORE.

Launches and Acquisitions

Interactive Intelligence acquired by Genesys for $1.4 billion

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Interactive Intelligence’s acquisition by Genesys for $1.4 billion became the second largest tech company acquisition in Indianapolis’ history, preceded only by ExactTarget. Call services company Genesys has already proclaimed their intent to develop their company here, giving us a glimpse into the future of tech talent opportunities. READ MORE.

Appirio moves headquarters to Indy, gets acquired for $500 million by Wipro

Appirio officially moved its global headquarters to Indianapolis in 2012, and the company celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2016.
Appirio officially moved its global headquarters to Indianapolis in 2012, and the company celebrates its 10-year anniversary in 2016.

2016 Mira Award Tech Company of the Year recipient Appirio moved their headquarters to Indianapolis in 2015 and celebrated their 10th anniversary this year. Now, they are celebrating their acquisition by Wipro, a global cloud services company. READ MORE.

Indy based T2 systems selling to private equity firm

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T2 Systems was acquired by a private equity firm for an undisclosed amount in 2016 after being named earlier in the year as one of Inc. 5000’s fastest growing companies (which they’ve been named to seven times prior). READ MORE.

Funding announcements and jobs

Governor Pence calls for $1 billion investment in entrepreneurship

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On July 14 at Innovation Showcase, Governor Pence introduced several new policy proposals ranging from investing state pension money in fast-growing companies to making venture capital tax credits transferable. All told the policies would tie together a mix of new money and continued state spending totaling $1 billion over 10 years in an effort to grow entrepreneurship and innovation in the state. READ MORE.

MOBI plans to add more than 500 jobs

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Wireless management solution company MOBI won a Mira Award for Company Culture of the Year in 2016, which will propel them in their quest to hire 500 jobs by 2020 as proposed in an announcement from September. READ MORE.

Indy ranked fifth in tech job growth

Tech jobs grew nearly 30 percent in Indianapolis from 2013 to 2015, ranking the city fifth in CBRE's annual "Tech Thirty Report."
Tech jobs grew nearly 30 percent in Indianapolis from 2013 to 2015, ranking the city fifth in CBRE’s annual “Tech Thirty Report.”

CBRE’s “Tech Thirty Report” ranked Indianapolis fifth in tech job growth for US cities. The data says 2016 saw tech jobs grow nearly 30 percent, or 5,423 total jobs between 2013 and 2015. READ MORE.

Awards and achievements

Indy tech companies make Inc 5000 List

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22 Indiana tech firms made Inc. 5000’s “Fastest Growing Private Companies” list this year, with DoubleMap leading the way at the top. Twelve of the 22 companies are also Mira Award winners. READ MORE.

Vennli wins Red Herring Top 100 North America award

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South Bend-based Software-as-a-Service (SaaS) company Vennli has been named to the Red Herring Top 100 North America List, a prestigious award honoring and celebrating leading private companies from the region and their innovations. READ MORE.

CloudOne ranks in multiple awards and honors

The full CloudOne team celebrates moving into new company headquarters in Fishers, Ind., last November.
The full CloudOne team celebrates moving into new company headquarters in Fishers, Ind., last November.

The internet of things company can’t deny their impressive year. After raising a $9 million Series E in May, the company went on to earn the prestigious ranking of top Indiana company on Deloitte’s 2016 Technology Fast 500 list and was named one of the “Best Entrepreneurial Companies in America” by Entrepreneur Magazine’s 2016 Entrepreneur360 List. READ MORE.