Published Apr 19, 2021 by A.J. Mistretta
A Utah-based software maker says it will open a second headquarters in Houston—yet another example of this region’s growing tech infrastructure.
Supply chain risk management software company Avetta plans to open its new Houston headquarters later this year, the company said in a release. Executives told the Houston Business Journal that roughly 50 employees, including the majority of Avetta’s leadership team, is already in the Houston region.
"We have been actively working with a real estate company who is helping us identify places, and we have a shortlist, Avetta President and CEO Arshad Matin told the newspaper.
Avetta plans to add an additional 100 employees across its global footprint this year, including some based in Houston, Matin said.
Avetta has an office in Irvine, Calif., where it handles much of its product development and software development. The company's headquarters in Orem, Utah, houses a variety of back-office functions and some members of the executive team, Matin told the HBJ.
Matin said Avetta will continue to build out its platform, a marketplace that connects customers with suppliers to manage and reduce supply-chain risk. The firm has around 100,000 contracting companies and around 400 customers in its network today, and Matin aims to grow those numbers dramatically over the next few years. Avetta also sees an opportunity to implement capabilities tracking sustainability and environmental, social and governance (ESG) with its platform.
Avetta’s technology platform helps companies worldwide build resilience and continuity in their supply chains – from increasing visibility within the network to ensuring safety and sustainability. The Avetta Marketplace provides suppliers and contractors deep discounts on insurance and safety-related products and services.
Avetta also announced the hiring of two new executives, Tom McNamara as COO and Jeff Byal as CFO. McNamara, formerly COO and chief revenue officer at construction software firm Viewpoint, will lead Avetta's sales, marketing, supplier network and professional services divisions. Byal is a certified public accountant who most recently served as CFO at Kentucky-based Appriss, a data and analytics provider.
A growing number of tech companies are expanding their presence in Houston as the region works to actively recruit firms in the sector. In November, Hewlett Packard Enterprise announced plans to move its headquarters from California to North Harris County, giving the region yet another Fortune 500 company. Greentown Labs, Amazon and Google Inc. all announced significant Houston area projects earlier in 2020.
Houston’s digital tech workforce grew last year, nudging the metro up to 11th place, ahead of Philadelphia in the rankings of the nation’s major tech centers. That’s according to Cyberstates 2021, the Computing Technology Industry Association’s (CompTIA) annual assessment of the U.S. tech sector.
The region added 8,100 tech workers in 2020, according to CompTIA’s estimates, bringing the total to 243,900. Houston overtook Detroit, which lost tech workers last year. Cyberstates 2021 found that Houston had 9,286 tech establishments in 2020, up from 8,798 in 2019. And the tech sector contributed $29.2 billion to the region’s GDP in 2019, 5.6 percent of the total. That’s up from $28.4 billion in 2018.
Learn more about the CompTIA report in this month's Houston Economy at a Glance and read the latest report on the region's tech ecosystem.