Area Development
India-based digital data services company iMerit will locate its first United States delivery center in downtown New Orleans, Louisiana.

In this location, employees are supporting innovative companies with needs in Spanish and English Natural Language Processing, Computer Vision, and US-based customer service needs.

According to Greater New Orleans Inc, the founding New Orleans team is fully bilingual Spanish-English and skilled in a variety of data services that help train machine learning algorithms. The company also plans to expand its existing US staff of solutions architects and sales and marketing executives. iMerit eventually plans to create over 100 jobs in this center.

“New technologies like Natural Language Understanding and Computer Vision, rely heavily on humans to create the nuanced data that fuels the algorithms. We operate where people are eager to develop digital skills and to transform their lives and those of their families. New Orleans has huge potential as a multilingual and multicultural hub with strong local backing for business,” iMerit Founder & CEO Radha Basu said.

Global Vice President of iMerit Sales, Jeff Mills, added “We are seeing a surge in demand for US based resources in Defense, Insurance, Health Care, Government and Technology. Simply put, our customer’s data is their advantage. They have always been thrilled with our ability to provide custom skilled teams that bring their data to life, and now customers are excited to be creating jobs here in the US.”

“The decision for iMerit to select New Orleans for a key part of their operations is significant on many levels,” said Michael Hecht, President & CEO of Greater New Orleans, Inc. “First, the natural language processing work being done by iMerit is cutting-edge, and will have a significant impact on lives around the globe for decades to come. Further, this represents yet another high tech company investing in Greater New Orleans. Finally, iMerit will not only be creating local jobs, but will do this via employing an underserved portion of our citizenry, another example of ‘inclusive innovation.’”

LED connected iMerit with LED FastStart’s Louisiana Job Connection. GNO, Inc. also assisted with finding office space for iMerit operations as a test of the market. iMerit has secured a long term space in downtown New Orleans, where they will ramp up to full operational staffing.

“In New Orleans and all across the state, Louisiana is proving to be a fertile location for continued growth of the digital media and software development fields,” said Governor John Bel Edwards. “In our interconnected world, companies like iMerit are leading the way in ensuring our devices and the services we enjoy can seamlessly hurdle language barriers. We congratulate iMerit on this new investment in New Orleans, and we look forward to their continued success in our state.”

New Orleans Mayor Mitch Landrieu said, “New Orleans is our nation’s most immediate laboratory for innovation and change. And our strategic plan to drive economic growth is seeing major results. The announcement that a global tech firm like iMerit is opening its first U.S. delivery center in our city, bringing with it 100 new jobs, is proof positive that the world is taking notice of our progress and renewed business energy. Our future is bright as we continue to attract major investments in the knowledge based economy. As we celebrate our city’s Tricentennial, we have much to be thankful for and much to look forward to as we continue to build a city for the ages.”