Tech firm founded by Purdue grads to grow in Indy

An early-stage tech firm founded by two Purdue University graduate students has established offices in Indianapolis and plans to create 37 jobs by 2020.

Dattus Inc., which has roots in the Purdue Foundry entrepreneurship hub in West Lafayette, is investing $111,000 to rent and outfit 2,500 square feet of office space at 8910 Purdue Road. It has received a commitment for $605,000 in conditional tax credits from the Indiana Economic Development Corp., based on its job-creation plans.

Dattus moved into the offices in early March, CEO Anurag Garg told IBJ on Tuesday morning. The Indianapolis operations currently have three employees and three contractors.

The firm already is hiring for sales, marketing, engineering, operations and data-science positions. The new positions will pay about $37 per hour on average, Garg said.

Dattus provides monitoring technology for industrial systems, providing maintenance engineers with data from their machinery to help predict failures, eliminate downtime and improve safety.

"Proximity to our customer base, a vibrant and growing startup community and access to great talent from some of the best universities in the country made Indianapolis a great choice for Dattus,” Garg said in a prepared release.

Garg co-founded the firm in December 2012 with fellow Purdue graduate student Lokesh Gupta, who currently is in India heading up Dattus’ research and development operations. Dattus employs seven full-time workers there.

Before relocating to Indianapolis, Dattus was headquartered in the Purdue Research Park in West Lafayette. It received support as a client of the Purdue Foundry, an entrepreneurship and commercialization hub that helps Purdue University faculty, students and alumni develop businesses.

The tax credits from the IEDC are conditional, meaning they can't be claimed until jobs workers are hired. IEDC also has pledged $19,000 in training grants for Dattus.