The business model for Austin-based Growth Acceleration Partners (GAP) is all about linking engineering talent in Latin America with U.S. demand for affordable software development.
GAP, which already employs 180 people in Costa Rica, announced Tuesday the opening of an expanded office in the capital San José with room for 300 workers.
“The state-of-the-art facility will give GAP the capacity to nearly double its footprint in San José and attract top talent from the area’s diverse technology talent pool,” the company said in a press release.
GAP will consolidate “several small satellite offices” into the new Costa Rica headquarters, while the company’s international headquarters will remain in Austin, on Jollyville Road.
Joyce Durst, co-founder and CEO of GAP, commented, “This office is an expression of our continued commitment to Costa Rica and long-term investment in the region. Our data analytics and data science Centers of Excellence are developing rapidly, and our new office is giving GAP the space we need to foster growth in a region that is rich with highly-skilled technical talent.”
According to the press release, GAP’s new office will be located in the San José suburb of Granadilla, putting it in close proximity to leading universities. The company plans to invite university students for internships.
GAP offers services to Fortune 500 companies and other clients, including analytics, cloud, mobile, and QA services.
GAP is majority-owned by CEO Joyce Durst, according to the Austin Business Journal. Durst is a Texas A&M engineering graduate and former IBM and BMC Software executive who co-founded GAP in 2007.
The company has a relatively small Austin footprint of 10 staff and 4 independent contractors, ABJ reported in September. The vast majority of its employees are based in Latin America. In addition to its offices in San José, the company has facilities in other provinces of Costa Rica and in Columbia.
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