The tech companies keep coming.
Double Fusion, which places ads in video games, is set to relocate its headquarters and six employees from San Francisco to a modest two-story building along Main Street in Santa Monica on March 1.
The area’s blue skies and ocean breezes are just part of the draw; the other part is the area’s growing cluster of firms in which tech, ad and entertainment merge.
Double Fusion, which has had a small L.A. office with four employees, is in growth mode. So the company decided to find digs near West L.A.’s numerous ad agencies, and media and entertainment firms to tap into the pool of talent and aggressively expand its movie studio clientele.
For example, the company worked with Warner Bros. to place ads for the “Sherlock Holmes” movie in a video shooter game called “Far Cry 2.”
“The weather and proximity to the ocean were very appealing on a personal level for our team,” said Alex Sood, chief executive at Double Fusion. “But it is also an up-and-coming area with a lot of companies, and lots of agencies are located in relative proximity to the Venice area.”
Venice and nearby areas such as Santa Monica have become hotspots for technology and media companies. Venice’s Abbot Kinney district is becoming home to a slew of startups, while Google is set to move into Frank Gehry’s famed “binoculars building” this year as the Internet search giant expands its Southern California operation.
“Right now there’s a huge energy and revitalization that’s happening in the community as a lot of businesses and companies are moving in,” said Colleen O’Mara, chairwoman of the Venice Media District, which promotes the industry interests in the area. “They are close to their clients and potential clients. And this is a place where talent wants to live and work as well because it is an artist-driven community.”
Double Fusion, founded in 2004, works with marketers and advertising agencies to place ads in video games played online or on consoles such as PlayStation 3.
Double Fusion plans to hire an additional 10 to 15 employees by the end of this year for a total headcount of 20 to 25.
Meanwhile, Sood, who joined Double Fusion in 2006 after practicing law in downtown Los Angeles, said the company’s San Francisco employees have been supportive of the move. In addition to the six employees immediately moving to its new headquarters, Sood expects a majority of the company’s four remaining workers to relocate in the coming months.
Sood acknowledged that the move met with some reluctance, although it was based on logistics rather than location.
“Having to move their families and leaving their homes or selling their homes, that’s been more of a challenge than convincing people that living near the beach is a good idea,” he said.
