Inside INdiana Business is reporting that Indianapolis-based Powderkeg has released the inaugural Indianapolis Tech Census Report. The report details the results of a survey of nearly 400 members of the Indy tech community, including the momentum, growth and challenges facing the tech sector. One of the key takeaways centers around diversity and equality among tech companies which, according to the report, shows room for improvement. During an interview on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick, Chief Executive Officer Matt Hunckler said the results also offer insight into pay and job satisfaction.
On a scale of 1 to 10, respondents to the survey gave Indy’s tech community an average score of 4.4 for diversity and 6.3 for inclusivity.
Josh Driver, founder of selfless.ly and one of the survey respondents, said in a news release that the Religious Freedom Restoration Act a few years ago opened up an opportunity for Indianapolis to take center stage by building tech companies and nonprofits that impact social issues such as diversity. “In order to do this we must further embrace an open and diverse tech community, which includes sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ability, age and socioeconomic status,” said Driver. “The best way to start is by implementing diversity and inclusion policies in our tech companies now.”
Some of the other key findings of the report include:
- In 2017, 34 percent of respondents saw revenue growth of more than 100 percent, while 20 percent reported revenue growth in excess of 200 percent.
- Marketing and sales Software-as-a-Service company respondents had the highest 2017 revenue growth rate, with 56 percent of companies reporting annual revenue growth over 100 percent.
- The majority of workforce respondents (63 percent) reported annual salaries in excess of $75,000.
- Indy’s developers are young. Eighty percent of developers surveyed are 35 or younger, while a third of developers are 21-25 years old. The majority of developers have been members of the Indy tech community for five years or less.
- A majority of entrepreneurial respondents (54 percent) are bootstrapping their tech companies and half (50 percent) struggled to raise capital in the state of Indiana.
- Two-thirds of investor respondents believe there will be more tech investment opportunities in Central Indiana in the next 3 years and 83 percent plan to invest the same or more into local companies over this period.
In an interview on Inside INdiana Business with Gerry Dick, Powderkeg Chief Executive Officer Matt Hunckler said he hopes the data from the census will help empower the entire state to continue to grow its tech presence.
“With information, you can make better decisions. You can figure out how to ride this tech wave, benefit from it, even if you’re not in the tech industry now. Some of the other findings we saw was that the majority of respondents reported 9-10, on a 10-point scale, job satisfaction. It’s just a great industry to be in.”