A new American Underground workspace in Raleigh may make it easier for Triangle entrepreneurs to get their businesses started.
The workspace recently opened at 213 Fayetteville St. The new space will house more than 25 businesses, including Bandwith Labs, according to the company’s website.
American Underground provides workspaces for new companies, allowing entrepreneurs to bounce ideas off each other. The company also has two campuses in Durham.
“What it allows companies to do is have an early, easy start,” said Adam Klein, the company’s chief strategist.
Jesse Flores co-founded Photofy, an app allowing users to add pre-designed graphics to their photos, a year ago and is now working in the Raleigh workspace.
Being surrounded by the other entrepreneurs is great inspiration, he said.
“Every time we walk down the hall, we chit chat about what we’re doing and how we’re doing things and maybe how we can help each other,” Flores said.
Capitol Broadcasting, WRAL’s parent company, started the first American Underground space at the American Tobacco campus on Blackwell Street in 2010. A second space opened two years later on Main Street.
Klein said the businesses at the three campuses created 150 jobs last year, which he thinks shows that the Triangle’s entrepreneurial spirit is alive and well.
“We think it’s going to grow and be a bigger story in the coming years,” he said. “We hope these are good seeds being planted for Raleigh and Durham long term.”
