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One of the sometimes overlooked ways the metro Atlanta region hums economically is the continually growing tech sector. While Atlanta is home to a number of Fortune 500 and Fortune 1000 companies, it is also home to innumerable startups and small companies that are classified as “tech.” Mainly serving business to business (B2B) niche roles, these companies help make up the vaunted statistic about small businesses being the biggest employer nationwide.

One of the oldest and most-well known anchors for these companies in Atlanta is the Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) out of Georgia Tech. The ATDC was founded in 1980 and is partially funded by the state legislature as the state’s officially technology startup incubator. To date, its graduates have raised $3 billion investment funding and generating more than $12 billion in revenue to the state.

This past week, the ATDC announced its latest slate of 13 graduates from the program top tier of mentored companies.

“This is an outstanding and spectacular class of graduates,” said Chris Nedza, ATDC’s lead entrepreneur in residence. “This group of founders are gamechangers and disruptors in cybersecurity, artificial intelligence, insurance, energy, ecommerce, artificial intelligence, and information security. We are extremely proud of the ATDC Class of 2022 and all their achievements.”

Collectively, the ATDC class of 2022 has raised more than $216 million in capital since January of 2021. In order to graduate, companies have to not only attract investment but also develop annual revenue of at least $1 million, with identified strategies for scaling up and financing that growth. One of those graduating companies is Apptega, a company that works to help others implement effective cybersecurity. Cybersecurity strategies are increasingly well-known, but actually getting them implemented and followed is another difficulty which Apptega will help to address.

“Starting a company from scratch is long, exciting, painful, and rewarding all at once. ATDC delivers the support, infrastructure, and guidance critical to our success,” Apptega founder Armistead Whitney said. “Sharing issues with other CEOs, receiving advice from the entrepreneurs in residence, getting connected to capital, and participating in programs at Georgia Tech gave us a huge competitive advantage not only to survive, but to thrive.”

The work of each of the graduates cover a very wide array. Carbice produces nanotube materials for global electronic, energy and industrial clients. Led by a Georgia Tech professor, the company is at the cutting edge of future technology as a supplier to critical industry.

“ATDC has allowed Carbice to grow from an idea to a thriving leader in the thermal solutions market,” said Baratunde Cola, the company’s founder and professor in Georgia Tech’s George W. Woodruff’s School of Mechanical Engineering. “The best part of the company’s time at ATDC was the ability to learn how to build and scale a manufacturing operation with the support of Georgia Tech and ATDC every step of the way.”