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Nearly a year ago, award-winning software entrepreneur Tony Zanders kicked off a mission as he took over the role of president and CEO of Nexus Louisiana: Launch 1,000 new tech founders by 2030.
In the months since, the Skilltype founder has steered the organization back to its original mission of accelerating the growth of high-potential technology-enabled companies by providing them with coaching, capital and connections.
It couldn’t come at a better time. The Capital Region’s tech scene is rising and thriving like never before.
The region soon will be home to a $10 billion data center backed by Google. The IBM Client Innovation Center in downtown Baton Rouge has expanded its focus to cutting-edge technologies like AI and cloud computing, with IBM’s watsonx platform now playing a major role in its operations. In 2024, Louisiana ranked as the No. 2 Tech Talent Pipeline in the U.S. in Business Facilities magazine. And today, more than 7,600 tech professionals are working across Greater Baton Rouge.
Also of note: LSU and Southern University have teamed up to increase worldwide access to high-performance computing and earned a $1.5 million award from the National Science Foundation. The team’s goal is to build a bigger user community around HPX, a software library that developers can use to create faster, more powerful, and energy-efficient applications.
And LSU is also the first university in the nation to partner with the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the Department of Homeland Security Science and Technology Directorate, and Idaho National Laboratory on a unique model for cybersecurity for critical infrastructure.
Meet 15 digital economy leaders
Hut 8
Miami-based infrastructure firm Hut 8 has secured a multibillion-dollar partnership with Anthropic and Fluidstack, a deal that puts the company’s planned River Bend data center in West Feliciana Parish at the center of a large-scale push to accelerate the deployment of hyperscale AI infrastructure in the U.S.
365Labs
This homegrown firm serves up an all-inclusive public safety platform that works securely, wirelessly and when completely offline or out of network range. It uses artificial intelligence to dramatically simplify report writing, evidence collection, summons, autonomous drone deployment, case management and more.
Digi-Twin Global
Digi-Twin Global is a Baton Rouge company that develops digital twin technology for infrastructure and collaborates with LSU on training and workforce development in digital modeling. It was founded by LSU business professor James Scott Fargason and Russell J. “Joey” Coco Jr. of Forte & Tablada.
Minimus
Minimus is an application security company co-founded by Ben Bernstein, Dima Stopel and John Morello that focuses on secure, minimal container images and virtual machines to reduce vulnerabilities. The company maintains a Baton Rouge presence in addition to offices in New York; Portland, Oregon; and Tel Aviv, Israel.
Twistlock
Twistlock was a cloud-native security startup co-founded by Baton Rouge–based technologist John Morello along with co-founder Ben Bernstein, and it specialized in securing containers and Kubernetes environments. It was acquired by Palo Alto Networks in 2019 and became part of the Prisma Cloud platform. Its executives are also involved in Minimus.
PreSonus
PreSonus is a Baton Rouge–founded audio technology company known for products like the Studio One digital audio workstation and StudioLive mixers. It remains headquartered in Baton Rouge and operates as a subsidiary of Fender Musical Instruments Corp.
IBM
IBM operates a services center in Baton Rouge as part of its North America Client Innovation Centers, where teams provide software development and digital services. The center was established through a major public–private initiative to expand technology jobs and strengthen ties with LSU.
LIGO
The LIGO Livingston Observatory is a major physics research facility located in the town of Livingston that detects gravitational waves using large-scale laser interferometers. It is operated by Caltech and MIT with support from the National Science Foundation.
Pixel Dash Studios
Pixel Dash Studios is a Baton Rouge game and interactive media company co-founded by Jason Tate and Evan Smith. The studio develops original video games and interactive projects, including simulations and VR experiences.
AppOne
AppOne is a Baton Rouge-founded software platform created by Lee Domingue to streamline indirect auto lending between dealers and lenders. It was later acquired by Wolters Kluwer Financial Services.
Integer Technologies
Integer Technologies is a defense-focused technology company that partnered with LSU to establish operations in Baton Rouge under a contract supported by the Office of Naval Research. The company focuses on autonomy and software systems for national security applications.
Vigilus
Vigilus is a Baton Rouge cybersecurity and software firm led by CEO Alexander “Lex” Adams. The company provides services such as threat monitoring, vulnerability assessments and managed security support.
