Advocado, an advertising technology and real-time TV ad insights platform, will add more than 100 high-paying jobs in St. Louis, Missouri. The company began in 2017 as a startup with just seven employees.

According to the state Missouri Department of Economic Development, Advocado attributes their rapid growth and additional hiring to the state’s affordable real estate, low cost of living, and skilled workforce. These new jobs will fill roles in engineering, data science, customer success, operations, sales, and marketing and will provide an average annual wage of more than $81,000.

“Our passion for revitalizing the economy in St. Louis naturally attracted us to the urban core,“ said Brian Handrigan, Co-Founder and CEO of Advocado. “At the same time, our collaboration with Greater St. Louis, Inc. helped us see how the city could function as a launchpad for our growing business, not only have we been able to escape the restrictions of a coastal tech hub, expand on a massive scale and develop our product, but we’ve also been able to thrive here knowing we’re a positive force combatting workforce displacement in the area.”

“Our state’s pro-growth business climate encourages innovation across Missouri,” Department of Economic Development Director Rob Dixon said. “Advocado saw the value of starting their business here in Missouri, and they have experienced incredible success. We look forward to seeing them continue to grow here.”

For their expansion, Advocado used the Missouri Works program, which helps companies expand and retain workers by providing access to capital through withholdings or tax credits for job creation. Advocado’s growth was also supported by collaboration among Missouri Partnership, AllianceSTL, and the St. Louis Economic Development Partnership.

“As a burgeoning tech hub, the Greater St. Louis metro offers the affordability, flexibility, investment potential and talent pool a business like Advocado’s needs to move from start-up to standout,” said Steve Johnson, chief business attraction officer, Greater St. Louis Inc., and president of the AllianceSTL initiative. “We join our state and regional partners in recognizing and applauding Advocado’s commitment to our region and to the urban core of St. Louis, advancing a significant goal in the STL 2030 Jobs Plan.”