Fostering Growth and Innovation in Birmingham with Birmingham Bound

Last month, I had the opportunity to meet with Maria Underwood, the president of Birmingham Bound, to discuss the tech ecosystem in Birmingham and our role.  

Maria's passion for Birmingham, her experience as a startup founder, and her expertise in nonprofits made her the perfect candidate for president of Birmingham Bound, "an initiative to build up the tech ecosystem in our city and make Birmingham the place to grow and scale a tech company" (Birmingham Bound website).  

Check out my interview with Maria to learn more about Birmingham Bound, the struggles of startup founders, and how we can contribute to the growth of the tech ecosystem in Birmingham.  

• In your words, what is the mission of Birmingham Bound, and why is it important? 

"So, Birmingham Bound's mission is to recruit startup founders of tech companies to Birmingham and support the growth and retention of companies and founders here." 

• Why Birmingham? 

"We were founded in 2018 by Bill Smith and Britney Summerville when they were at Shipt, and when Target acquired Shipt, Target wanted Shipt's headquarters to move to Minneapolis. And Bill said, no, we're going to stay and invest in Birmingham and this ecosystem. So, we were originally a corporate initiative of Shipt.

Two years ago, some folks got together and decided that this mission belongs to the city itself and the ecosystem, not one particular corporation. So, we moved into a 501c3, and we've been a nonprofit now for about two years. [Shipt is still a major partner in Birmingham Bound and supports and sponsors their efforts]

That was why we originated in Birmingham, but there are a lot of good reasons to build a startup in Birmingham. 

You have a community of support from other founders. We're not an oversaturated market with founders. You're not a dime a dozen trying to raise capital and get doors open. It's easy to access decision-makers in Birmingham. And that's what you need if you're a founder trying to sell your product. So, community, access to founders, and then we just think [Birmingham is] a good place to want to live too. You can live here and build your company and enjoy the hiking trails, the green space, railroad park, and all the incredible food at a cost of living that's much lower than a lot of other tech cities. And we've got a great airport, so if you need to get on the plane to raise capital somewhere or go to meetings, you can do that pretty easily.  

In my view, Birmingham is the best place not only to start your company but if you also want to love your life." 

• How has growing up in Birmingham contributed to your passion and work with Birmingham Bound?  

"I love the city of Birmingham, and I think that the state has some great opportunities, but also a long way to go. After college, I worked in Birmingham for about a year and a half and moved to Washington, D.C., for about ten years. During my last couple of years there, I felt this ache and need to come home because a lot was going on in the world, and being in D.C. through a lot of it and hearing people talk about Alabama and looping Birmingham into that, which I think is separate.  

I realized I wanted to get back and help support the growth of the city that I love and help change the narrative of the city and the state, and we can't do that if everyone keeps leaving it. There are a lot of reasons to leave Alabama, but if we all leave it, then nothing's going to change. So, a big part of my driving force to come back was being a part of trying to help the change in perception."

• How has founding your startup contributed to your work with Birmingham Bound? 

"I would not be able to do this job had I not gone through founding something on my own because it's hard to understand the loneliness, the terror. You're running everything from software development, and I'm not a technical founder, to marketing, to accounting and finance, to legal. It's really overwhelming, and that's a lot. 

That is why we created the Bound for Success program so that founders feel they have someone they can call at any point. We are there for them. Once you're a Birmingham-bound founder, you are with us always. We are always there for you. Not just for a certain program amount of time, but we just want people to know they have a support system and a community. Everything we do is done with the lens of what would a founder need.  Alessandra on our team is also a founder, and I think it helps us be able to empathize above all else. Sometimes, that's all founders need." 

• What lessons have you learned that are valuable for others to consider as we all play a role in making Birmingham an incredible place for technology? 

"On the founder's side, there is this desire and need in the founder's space to move as quickly and as fast as possible. I think to the detriment of mental health and, quite frankly, thoroughness and thoughtfulness. I was a victim of that, too, just wanting to get things done. I wanted to build things out without taking a little more intentional time, and I think that it would have taken longer, but I would have had more success earlier on if I had been more intentional. But it just feels like this race of, I've got to raise money, I've got to build BC, I've got to push new products out, and if I don't do it tomorrow, we're dead in the water. I think that is a product of space, and I'd like to see that change.   

On the software development side, I worked with a bad contractor in town who took a lot of money, and that was hard. So, I think you should really do due diligence on who you're working with, continual due diligence." 

• Tell me about some of the work you are doing at Birmingham Bound and how you see that work take hold! 

"So, we were in Miami for Miami Tech Week. I was in Philly to speak on some panels about what we're doing in Birmingham. Alessandra was in Tulsa and Atlanta all in the past two months. We had a house at South by Southwest in March as well. So, we have been traveling quite a bit.

I think part of what I believe will help us recruit and is a core part of our mission is PR for the city. Birmingham does a really good job of talking to people in Birmingham, but that's not going to help us recruit people here. So, it's bringing people here, but it's also going out into the country and saying, here are the reasons we are out here. So, we've been traveling quite a bit." 

• What do you see as the future of tech in Birmingham? 

"We have a lot of really great pre-seed companies here. We need a few more to move from pre-seed to Series A. There are a few, but it's not based on the density of pre-seed; we need to move them up the funnel more. 

Conversations are happening right now among all ecosystem leaders around pockets of the city. I feel like all the leaders are working together in lockstep now. It is hard in a city like ours with lots of leaders and lots of need for reporting and all of that, but I do feel there's a lot of synergy right now. And this is the time for our tipping point to happen. So I'm hopeful that that is what we will get pretty soon because some great startups have come here and are working here. So if they can just continue to get that support, I think we're going to see a few more businesses take off.  

We are at a tipping point, and as long as we keep pace, we will get there."

• How can people within the tech community and Birmingham, in general, contribute to building the city up? 

"One of our problems has been in the tech community, we have all come together really well, but the business community isn't always right there with us. One of the biggest challenges our startups have here is getting customers locally. So if I'm speaking at Rotary or [a community event], it's like, if you're going to hire some company or some firm, or you're going to look for a software, look first to see if someone in Birmingham is doing it.  

 The business community really needs to lean in and support founders.  

Also, allow for failure. I often see reports in the news, of, "this startup closed today", and that's not news. Startups fail, and honestly, it's better for them to shut their doors than to keep going and get community resources when they're not going to work.  

Let's give excitement and grace to failure because that means the founder is probably going to do something again and be better the next time.

There are so many events in the tech space, too many, I would say. But there are tons of ways to meet founders and see what's going on. So I think just keeping an eye on people showing up to any of these free happy hours, or free events, or community tech events is a really good way to get engaged." 

During Sloss Tech last week, Birmingham Bound Next hosted the casting director for Shark Tank for an hour-long pitch and Q&A on how to pitch your business. He also conducted office hours so small business owners could pitch their ideas to him and see about getting cast on Shark Tank Season 16. They also hosted the Startup Showcase at Tech on 20th.   

Last week, Bham Bound also hosted three companies. Two of those companies are healthcare-related, so they were able to attend the 2024 gener8tor Healthcare Conference and Sloss Tech. It provided a unique visit for them because they were able to see Birmingham's vibrant tech scene. Birmingham Bound also has about four other companies in the pipeline right now. 

The work Maria and Birmingham Bound are doing fosters growth and innovation in Birmingham. They set an example for all of us in the tech space to follow. As we witness their work, it is important to evaluate our role as supporters, friends, and community.  

We ask ourselves how we can contribute to Birmingham Bound's mission. An easy place to start is by keeping up with the work Birmingham Bound is doing, attending events, following along with Tech Birmingham, and looking for opportunities to engage with founders and others in the tech space.  

Birmingham is full of potential, so let's do what we can for the city we love.