NYC tech startup Starburst Labs opens office in Providence, ramps up hiring

A NEW YORK City-based maker of web and mobile apps opened an office with six employees on Weybossett Street last month, and plans to hire another 15 employees this year.
A NEW YORK City-based maker of web and mobile apps opened an office with six employees on Weybossett Street last month, and plans to hire another 15 employees this year.

PROVIDENCE – A New York City-based maker of web and mobile apps opened an office with six employees at 86 Weybossett St. last month, and plans to hire another 15 employees this year.

John Rourke, CEO of Starburst Labs Inc., wrote in an email that the engineering and customer support teams will be located in the Providence office.

Rourke said he wanted a location in Rhode Island because the state is appealing for a tech startup, as it has affordable office space and engineering talent coming from the computer science departments at Brown University and University of Rhode Island.

“I call it the ‘Big Arb of Little Rhody.’ … Locating in a liveable area for employees that’s packaged with the cultural and geographical riches of Rhode Island is an arbitrage we intend to exploit,” Rourke wrote.

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“In an age of web-based productivity apps, collaborative team messaging, and big screen videoconferencing –  the tools we use all day long at Starburst Labs –  the decision to have offices in both New York City and Providence was an easy one to make. From the point of view of creating value for customers and our investors, we think it’s actually the best decision,” he wrote in his blog.

He noted that he grew up in Providence, and company co-founder, Dan Ferranti, the chief technology officer, also is a native Rhode Islander, who lives in Cranston and manages the engineering team.

Starburst Labs makes it products for individual investors, financial advisers, broker-dealers and financial media brands.

It recently closed a Series A round of funding totaling $6,250,000 led by Bel45 Capital Partners, which invested $5 million, with the remaining capital coming from investors in Starburst Labs from previous seed rounds. The new financing brings Starburst Labs’ total capital raised to $10,250,000.

The funding will allow Starburst Labs to accelerate the growth of its products and and hire more staff. It has four employees in New York City, Rourke said.

The company, which was founded in 2013, was originally called Gotham Tech Labs. It changed its name to Starburst to avoid New York connotations as it recruited in the Providence and Greater Boston area – an area it referred to as “Red Sox nation.” Starburst reflects a “corporate starburst” as the company grows. Rourke said there are no copyright issues, as they are not a candy company.

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