While Raleigh-Durham may be more commonly known as a tech hub, Charlotte has also played an integral role in the growth of North Carolina’s tech industry. According to a 2019 report from the Charlotte Observer, tech job growth in the city has been outpacing the national average, having grown by 30 percent over the past five years. As the home of Bank of America’s global headquarters and Wells Fargo’s East Coast division headquarters, the city has long been recognized as a banking capital. And while Charlotte’s tech sector is partly defined by fintech, there’s more than just financial strategy taking shape across the city. In fact, some of the nation’s largest companies have started to take notice of Charlotte’s tech potential. In 2019, home improvement retailer Lowe’s announced its decision to open a 23-floor tech center in the city’s South End, with plans to hire up to 2,000 tech professionals.
The diversity of Charlotte’s tech scene is undoubtedly a reflection of the city’s transformation into an innovation hub. And although the city has witnessed a surge in new startups over the past several years, Charlotte has been acquainted with the tech industry for decades. Companies like LendingTree and Method were some of the first businesses to put Charlotte’s tech scene on the map, and since then, countless others have joined their ranks. While many of Charlotte’s tech leaders are tied to the city’s financial sector, others are tackling areas such as big data and e-commerce. As more companies continue to cultivate Charlotte’s tech ecosystem, the Queen City is on its way to ruling the tech space.
Take a look at these tech companies in Charlotte transforming the city into a burgeoning tech capital.
Tech Companies in Charlotte to Know
- Red Ventures
- Credit Karma
- LendingTree
- Passport
- Method
- Bank of America
- AvidXchange
- Tresata
- Ekos
- Levvel.io
Founded: 1993
Focus: Telecommunication
What they do: Spectrum’s products and services enable connectivity for homes and businesses. Its solutions include cable TV plans, internet service plans to meet business needs and enterprise-level products for industries ranging from healthcare to retail. Spectrum has a substantial presence in Charlotte, with more than 2,000 employees based in the area. Professionals from teams like corporate IT, business intelligence and human resources work out of the company’s five-building campus in Charlotte.
Founded: 1999
Focus: Artificial Intelligence + Software
What they do: RingCentral uses artificial intelligence to power its array of communications solutions designed to support business operations. Its products cover everything from an AI assistant for taking real-time notes during calls to tools that enable live transcription and captioning for video meetings. Organizations from industries such as healthcare, education, retail, manufacturing and construction use RingCentral’s solutions to enhance productivity and collaboration.
Founded: 2007
Focus: Financial services
What they do: Credit Karma is a resource that helps people make the most informed financial decisions possible, featuring information regarding top credit cards, personal loans, home loans, auto loans and additional financial resources. Users can compare loans and cards against each other to find the perfect options that fulfill their needs while accessing applications directly through the site, eliminating the information overload that many encounter on their way to financial freedom.
Founded: 2000
Focus: Media
What they do: Red Ventures owns and operates a portfolio of digital media organizations with a mission of helping people discover new platforms and become more engaged consumers. Outlets occupying the media conglomerate’s portfolio include CNET, Lonely Planet, ZDNet, TV Guide, Metacritic, Chowhound, Healthline Media and Bankrate, spanning across industries as varied as tech, entertainment and finance.
Founded: 1996
Focus: Financial Services
What they do: LendingTree offers an online marketplace that empowers consumers to be more confident about their financial decisions. Consumers can use the company’s marketplace to shop for financial services such as mortgage loans and refinances, auto loans, personal loans, and student refinances. LendingTree also enables consumers to compare offers from their nationwide network of partners and receive free credit scores and monitoring.
Founded: 2000
Focus: Invoice + Payment Processing Automation
What they do: AvidXchange provides software that automates invoice and payment processes for mid-market businesses. The company’s digital application allows organizations to reduce costs, scale for growth, work remotely and eliminate fraud. AvidXchange’s software integrates with a wide range of accounting systems including Oracle NetSuite, Intuit QuickBooks and Microsoft Dynamics.
Founded: 2012
Focus: Financial Management Software
What they do: Payzer offers a cloud-based platform that allows users to accept credit cards, debit cards and electronic checks in the field or at the office. The company’s platform offers a variety of features including inbound call management, paperless financing, technician scheduling and dispatch, sales proposals, back office integration and customer invoicing. Payzer’s all-in-one management tool is intended to help businesses provide instant financing options and close more sales.
Founded: 1998
Focus: Financial Services
What they do: As one of the world’s largest financial institutions, Bank of America leads the financial sector, offering its services to individuals, small and middle-market businesses, and large corporations. The company offers a broad range of banking, investing, asset management, and financial and risk management products and services. Bank of America currently serves about 56 million U.S. consumers.
Founded: 2005
Focus: Digital Product Development
What they do: Method develops digital products in an effort to help businesses optimize user experiences and innovate throughout the product life cycle. The company specializes in designing apps and websites, building products, implementing digital strategies and launching innovation labs and ecosystems. Skookum also focuses on omnichannel experiences, digital transformation and platform consolidation.
Founded: 2013
Focus: Digital Product Development
What they do: Levvel.io is dedicated to helping organizations build digital products or improve pre-existing ones. The company’s expertise encompasses product strategy, Agile transformation, DevOps and automation planning, enterprise architecture, cloud and container automation, and system integration and migration. Levvel.io serves a wide range of clients including insurance companies, health and wellness brands and global retailers.
Founded: 2010
Focus: Mobile Parking Payments
What they do: Passport aims to transform the way vehicles interact with streets and sidewalks through its integrated platform. The company’s platform enables cities, universities and private operators to implement parking payments into their pre-existing apps. Passport is dedicated to helping its clients easily manage mobile pay parking, parking enforcement, digital permitting and micro-mobility.
Founded: 2014
Focus: Business Management Software
What they do: Ekos has developed business management software for producers of craft beer, wine and cider. The company’s software is designed to help business owners more easily manage their day-to-day operations in inventory, production, sales and accounting. Ekos’ mission is to empower craft manufacturers to scale their businesses, streamline their processes and optimize their teams.
Founded: 2011
Focus: Big Data Monetization
What they do: Tresata has created smart software in an effort to monetize big data. The company’s analytics operating system boasts the ability to manage data as data sets, which enables them to monetize the intelligence inherent in these assets at massive scale. Serving clients from a wide range of industries, Tresata seeks to help organizations make better decisions for their customers.
Founded: 2012
Focus: Trading Solutions
What they do: Tradier offers an open and secure API for investors, advisers and traders. The company provides brokerage accounts, REST-based brokerage APIs, advisor APIs and market data APIs in an effort to offer trading access to the U.S. markets. Additionally, Tradier’s TradeHawk platform allows users to unlock $0 commission stock and options trading.
Founded: 2002
Focus: Contact Center Solutions
What they do: Aceyus helps businesses improve customer experiences by enabling them to pull actionable insights from their contact center data. The company’s platform boasts a variety of capabilities such as data mining, warehousing, contact center reporting and analytics, and customer journey mapping. By granting organizations greater visibility into their data, Aceyus aims to help its clients run more efficient and cost-effective contact centers while improving the customer experience.
Founded: 2009
Focus: IT Consulting Services
What they do: ClaySys Technologies is an IT consulting solutions provider that offers services on its core platform as well as Microsoft platforms like Windows Server, SQL Server and SharePoint. The company’s specialties include robotic process automation (RPA), mobile app development, AI chatbots and cognitive AI, Salesforce development, and digital marketing. ClaySys Technologies is dedicated to helping organizations more easily leverage the cloud infrastructure so they can build their own custom applications.
Founded: 2013
Focus: E-commerce Management
What they do: Ecomdash enables e-commerce companies to run their business from anywhere. The company’s multichannel inventory app helps businesses manage their inventory across multiple platforms, allowing them to manage product levels across warehouses and accurately sync manufactured products. Ecomdash’s app also allows companies to download products from various sales channels, search for products, create an unlimited number of listing profiles, and improve customer satisfaction with automated order status and tracking detail syncs.
Founded: 2000
Focus: Medical Billing Automation + Revenue Cycle Management
What they do: ImagineSoftware offers medical billing automation software and revenue cycle management applications. The company’s suite of solutions includes patient payment plans, healthcare billing collections, electronic claims services, and payment and records reconciliation. ImagineSoftware intends to help medical billing offices, practices and hospitals improve efficiency and achieve peak performance.
Founded: 2006
Focus: Digital Solutions
What they do: SeedSpark is a digital solutions company dedicated to helping organizations increase their competitive advantage. The company offers a broad range of services such as disaster recovery, network infrastructure, intrusion detection, custom web design, content creation, application hosting and data migration. SeedSpark aims to help businesses grow in today’s digital transformation.
