New York’s emergence as a national hotbed of emerging tech companies has been well-documented, but it’s been relatively limited to a few areas so far–lower Manhattan’s “Silicon Alley” comes to mind, as does DUMBO in Brooklyn. Nonprofit Startup Box: South Bronx seeks to add its namesake neighborhood to that list.
Startup Box: South Bronx, cheekily named [SB]^2 for short, is helmed by MacArthur grant recipient and Sustainable South Bronx founder Majora Carter along with two business partners. It seeks to provide communal office space for tech startups, classes in engineering, design, and entrepreneurship for local youth, and “a top-tier network of mentors and advisors for promising tech startups.” The organization is still getting off its feet, seeking funding from “several established tech companies” and a usable space in the area.
“Unless we work hard right now to ensure that people here are participants, the tech boom is going to bypass this neighborhood,” Carter told the New York Daily News. “We want to make the the South Bronx a mecca for startup tech entrepreneurs.”
A cursory glance at the nonprofit’s site shows its ideals are in the right place, reading in part: “We believe that the way potential is measured and cultivated in kids needs to be disrupted. We believe that the walls between education, commerce, and community need to come down. We believe in the value of bringing students, startups, and community members together to learn from and inspire each other.” It’s a noble philosophy, and we hope [SB]^2 can secure the funding to pull it all off.
(Photo: americaswildlife/Flickr)
