It’s been 10 years since Rise of the Rest bus came to Atlanta, and a lot has changed. Entrepreneurial communities that were once just forming have now matured, early seeds have begun to bear fruit, and the city has emerged as a powerhouse — not just in the Southeast, but as it gears up to become one of the top five tech hubs in the country.

Turning raw information into actionable insights often takes weeks of manual work or costly consulting. Founded by Pavleen Thukral, Magic Data automates the messy processing that slows analysts down. Acting as a “virtual data analyst,” Magic Data’s tool cleans, organizes, and analyzes raw data, so humans don’t have to.

A record of 17 startups, focused on a diverse range of topics from healthcare and logistics to artificial intelligence and robotics, graduated from the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC)’s program on October 21. The event was held at the historic Biltmore Georgian Ballroom, located on the ground floor of the new Biltmore Innovation Center in Tech Square, and celebrated the 2025 ATDC Graduating Class and ATDC’s 45th Anniversary.

Pairing a lifelong interest in cooking, especially the gathering with friends and family around the table, with financial responsibility is what inspired Ivan Zou, the co-founder of Raccoon Eyes, to dig into the problem of food waste. Ivan shares, “When I started seeing how much food was being not eaten by students and wasted in kitchens, I was inspired to find a solution at the intersection of the kitchen and consumer that could help avoid both waste and economic cost.”

Imagine asking a virtual assistant technology to play your favorite song, only to have a different one start playing. Or providing a verbal command to a robotic tool, and it completes another action. Now imagine you are at the doctor’s office, where accuracy and precision are essential and lifesaving, and virtual assistant technology fails to understand or transcribe the correct information based on your unique voice, medical condition, accent, first language, tone, and more.

As crisp mornings return to Tech Square, we’re celebrating a summer full of energy and creativity, including sharing innovative ideas during Midtown Day, as part of Atlanta Tech Week, and engaging in community service events with LifeLine Animal Project, the American Red Cross, and Agape Youth & Family Center. Our fall calendar is rich with innovative and creative events designed to spark connection, curiosity, and community. But first, let’s take a moment to relive our favorite summer memories!

In communities across the country, organizations are collecting data in record amounts, but the harder task is turning those insights into progress people can see and feel.

On September 25th, Women in Technology (WIT), a nonprofit organization that is “supporting the women who are shaping the future”, hosted the 2025 WIT Career Fair at the TSQ ATL Clubhouse. Over 220 attendees engaged in dynamic conversations with tech-driven companies and formed valuable professional connections with community members.

TSQ Tuesday is a weekly happy hour/networking event that turns casual conversations into real-world collaborations, connecting researchers, entrepreneurs, and technologists. For Weiyuan “Vera” Wang, a chance meeting at the event sparked a partnership that could transform how live-animal research is conducted, reducing stress for animals while improving data accuracy.

“We hope to get everyone to catch ‘entrepreneur’s disease,’” says John Avery, referring to the contagious excitement of entrepreneurship. As director of Georgia Tech’s ATDC, Avery has helped cultivate a collaborative environment in Tech Square where mentors and founders spark ideas, share advice, and turn big concepts into startups.

Can biosignals such as heart rate, breathing, and blood pressure be integrated into immersive virtual reality experiences? For researcher-turned-entrepreneur Yuchen Zhao, this vision is at the core of her work with her startup BioVR.

San Francisco–based startup Pylon joined Bits of Good at The Clubhouse for a tech talk on modern web development, fresh off a $31M Series B.

Startups need talent. Students need experience. But too often, cost keeps them apart. Georgia Tech’s Office of Commercialization is breaking down that barrier—funding internships that give students real-world exposure while helping young companies scale.

This art exhibit in Georgia Tech’s Interactive Media Zone (IMZ), Technoterria, immerses visitors in a futuristic imagined museum in the year 2125, reflecting on 100 years of technological advancements and placing 2025 as the turning point of industrialization and AI advancement. By housing the digital skyline and interactive sculptures in a space with entrepreneurs, researchers, and students, T.W. Pilar and Ivan Reyes hope to inspire a future where technology is used for social good.

When Atlanta native Sayem Hoque saw how organizations struggle with repetitive, time-consuming administrative tasks, he knew he could make a difference. His startup, Flexbone, has emerged from stealth with AI-powered agents designed to streamline operational workflows and is now gearing up to expand across the Southeast.