Meet Maestro for a More Connected Tech Square
The person who could help with what you're working on may be sitting three floors up, or grabbing coffee in the building next door. Maybe they are a potential co-founder or a research partner. Maybe they studied at the same university you did, a decade and a few cities apart. Maybe they run the same trail every morning, or they have solved the exact problem keeping you up at night. You just don't know they are there yet.
That gap, between who is around and who you actually know, is the problem Maestro™ sets out to close. Maestro for Tech Square is rolling out across the community now as a new ecosystem connection platform, built to help people find and reach the right people across Tech Square without leaning on luck or a well-timed hallway conversation.
What "the right people" means is up to you. For some, it will mean tracking down a genuine collaborator: a co-founder, a research partner, an investor who understands your space. For others, it is about context, like knowing who nearby shares your alma mater, your field, your side interests, or the kind of work you would want to trade notes on. And for plenty of people it is simpler still. It means getting a better sense of who works around you, spotting the people whose paths you would want to cross, and feeling a little more woven into the place where you already spend your days. Every version counts, and a community gets stronger when the people in it can actually find each other.
Tech Square runs on its people
Tech Square is one of the densest innovation communities in the country, and the numbers make the case. More than 200 startups work here, and the count keeps climbing. So do 42 university research entities, more than 10 venture capital firms, and 14+ major corporate research and innovation companies, all within a few blocks of one another. People are not here simply because it is where their office happens to be. They are here for the network: founders, researchers, operators, investors, students, and builders all packed into the same few blocks, each carrying knowledge, skills, and relationships that someone nearby could use.
That value only counts when people can find it. As the community grows, no single person, not even the most plugged-in relationship manager, can keep the whole map in their head. Maestro turns that map into something you can see and search.
Every member gets a profile that captures what they know, what they are working on, and the kinds of connections they would welcome. Some profiles have already started, built from public information, so you may find yourself listed before you ever log in. Claiming that profile and filling it out matters, because Maestro needs to understand you before it can help others find you, and before it can point you toward the people you are looking for.
Explore & Smart Find
Once you are in, two tools do the work. Explore is the familiar one: type in a skill, an organization, an industry, or an area of expertise, and Maestro surfaces the people who match. Smart Find goes further. Instead of guessing at keywords, you describe what you need in plain language, from "a contract lawyer who works with startups" to "someone who can help me find a caterer for my event," and Smart Find reads the request, ranks the people most likely to help, and explains why each one came up. It is the difference between scrolling a list and asking a knowledgeable friend who to call.
Smart Find drew the most attention during beta testing. A tester said they would use it "all the time" if it delivered on its promise, adding that they wished LinkedIn had something like it.
A real person on the other end
Finding the right name is only half the story. When you spot someone worth meeting, you can message them directly or request a warm introduction from a Tech Square relationship manager who can vouch for the connection and help it land. That human layer is deliberate. Maestro does not try to automate relationships or replace the people who already hold this community together. It gives them, and you, a better place to start.
Discovery works both ways, so the profile that helps you find others helps others find you. The more complete yours is, the more likely you are to turn up when someone searches for exactly what you offer, or simply for someone who shares their interests. That resonated with testers. Another beta tester pointed to the value of "seeing common interests in community," not just the obvious professional match.
The payoff may be biggest for the people still finding their footing here. Longtime members arrive with networks already built. Newcomers do not, and even well-connected testers could see the difference it would make for someone new to the community. As members note who they already know, Maestro builds a clearer picture of how the whole community connects, which makes introductions faster and the ecosystem easier to navigate, especially for people who have not spent years building a network here.
That potential has not gone unnoticed by the people who built Tech Square in the first place. Kevin Byrne, president and CEO of The University Financing Foundation, the organization that helped develop Tech Square, sees Maestro as a model with reach well beyond Atlanta.
“The lasting value of Tech Square lies in the relationships people build, not simply through social engagement, and not only with those they already know. The ability to connect faculty with entrepreneurs and students with industry around shared interests, even when they otherwise would never have met, is the foundation of the next generation of successful innovation ecosystems,” Byrne said. “Maestro is how we stop leaving those connections to chance. We have intentionally facilitated those connections at Tech Square for years, and this platform enables that vision to scale. The Maestro platform can, and should, be adopted by innovation communities across the country.”
How to get in
The rollout starts with members working from the Technology Square Research Building (TSRB) and Centergy One. If you are based elsewhere in Tech Square and want in, you can submit interest, and the team will follow up as access opens further.
Here is the TLDR: Tech Square is the best place in the South to build something, and Maestro is how you plug into it. The founders, researchers, and investors you would want to know are already a few blocks away. Claim your profile, tell Maestro what you are working on and who you would like to meet. They may already be nearby and a search away.
If you're outside TSRB and Centergy One and interested in Maestro, please click here.