TAMPA, Fla. — The Tampa Bay region is becoming more attractive to tech startups.

A nonprofit that works with entrepreneurs building their businesses is seeing this growth firsthand.

Over the past decade, Tampa Bay Wave has helped launch more than 500 startups, creating more than 5,000 jobs in the area.

“Post-pandemic there is a tremendous number of folks who have relocated here and intend to build their tech companies here,” said Linda Olson, CEO of Tampa Bay Wave. “They realize they do not need to be in Silicon Valley and in fact, there are some benefits to building your companies in Florida, including Tampa Bay.”

Miraj Patel never planned on becoming an entrepreneur. Instead, he always dreamed of running a sports team. Eventually, the idea of building his own team from the ground up became exciting.

“Being able to take that shot early in your career, I think is a little more comforting than making a big risk later on,” Patel said. “I felt what’s the worst that could happen?”

Patel is the founder of Harness, a platform that lets users pair their credit or debit card to support nonprofits, such as Habitat for Humanity and United Way. Patel believes charities are part of the community’s foundation and says it’s important to support the causes they stand for.

“Every time you make a purchase on that card from there on out, you’ll be rounding that next purchase to the dollar,” Patel explained. “Half will go back to a charity within our local ecosystem and the other half will go into a 50-50 prize pool that’s constantly spitting out random prizes.”

When Patel was brainstorming Harness and thinking about where to launch the startup, Tampa caught his eye. He says it offers a different environment than big tech areas, like Silicon Valley.

“Some of these startup ecosystems are rather mature and they’ve produced some big-swinging companies, unicorn-type companies,” Patel explained. “The issue with that is when you have an ecosystem that’s riped with a bunch of darlings, how much attention, support, love do some of the folks that may be in the earlier stages actually receive?”

The support Patel received in Tampa allowed him to grow his company from zero employees to 50, many of whom are from local universities, and reach more than 1,500 customers.

“It all started with two guys had a good idea that the city was able to foster us, turning that great idea into a business,” he said. “There’s a long way to go, but we feel that we have all the support we need here locally to take the next major, big step.”

Patel says Tampa’s startup economy is rapidly growing right now. He hopes to show other aspiring entrepreneurs what they can do with a good idea and a lot of hard work.

“It is a rollercoaster,” Patel said. “Understand and be willing to embrace that all rollercoasters have their ups and their downs. That’s why when you walk off of them, you’ve got that thrill and that satisfaction of doing something awesome.”

Olson explained the region’s quality of life is a major factor that attracts entrepreneurs, as well as tax benefits in the state. The nonprofit recently received a federal grant that will allow them to help launch more startups in the area in the coming years.