For a town built on heavy industry, Akron is finding success with a business cluster that might surprise some: software and information technology.

Just ask Doug Weintraub, CEO of downtown Akron's Bounce Innovation Hub, an incubator for all sorts of fledgling companies.

"It's bio health care-related entities and software — those are the biggest categories," he said of his client/tenant mix.

Software really is Bounce's largest category in terms of the businesses operating there. Bounce lists 17 software and IT tenants on its website and another 13 at its Bit Factory accelerator for software companies. That compares to nine in its biomedical/health care group, and some of those companies also work on software development.

Weintraub said Bounce is finding success because it has what software companies want: a progressive workspace with the amenities of an urban environment.

That helped lure SaberLogic (perhaps better known by the name of its flagship product, Bezlio) to Bounce from Wadsworth in September. The 24-person firm makes a mobile app that allows businesses to track their workforce while integrating other business software platforms.

"It wasn't a hard sell, because we have what they wanted in terms of being able to support their business," Weintraub said, noting that includes strong and fast internet connectivity.

Bounce now has another software firm coming. CompanionLabs will move from Akron's Wallhaven neighborhood to Bounce in late October and occupy the top floor of Bounce's building on South Main Street. CompanionLabs makes software that helps users monitor, measure and manage advertising on Facebook — and soon Google, too, founder Brian Deagan said.

CompanionLabs only has about 10 employees, but Weintraub and others are enthusiastic because Deagan's last startup, a software firm called Knotice, grew to employ 100 people and still operates in Akron. It was acquired in 2014 by another marketing technology company, New York-based IgnitionOne.

Deagan said he's looking for new hires, following a raise of $1.5 million in seed capital that CompanionLabs completed in summer.

"We're growing rapidly," said Deagan.

At some point in the next two years, he'll need marketing and other professions, but "right now, engineering talent is the primary interest," he said.

Akron's growing software cluster is not restricted to Bounce, though. Other firms are growing and springing up downtown.

One is Metisentry, a firm that works on software-as-a-service products for itself and customers. It was formed in 2006 by Marling Engle and employs 25 people on South Main Street in the heart of downtown Akron.

"Marling is next-level savant smart. He's like Lex Luthor!" said Aaron Christopher "A.C." Evans, founder of another software-driven company downtown, Drips.

Evans was quick to add that Engle has far better intentions than Luthor and is a greater asset in the local IT world.

Metisentry also has resulted in the spinoff of other companies, most recently Macedonia-based Station Check, an application that helps fire departments track and monitor their equipment and its maintenance.

At 32, Engle is a bit of an elder statesman among Akron software developers, and he's seeing more firms pop up.

"I do see more. I think in Northeast Ohio, investment is conservative, but I think (venture capitalists from) the coasts are finally catching on that you can't just shoot for the coasts and expect profitability. So, I think there will be more startups coming here, and we have a really strong IT community," Engle said.

It's not just capital from the coasts. SaberLogic was the first Akron investment for Chicago-based M25, a venture capital firm focused on the Midwest that says the Rubber City recently climbed in its internal ranking of top cities in which to invest.

SaberLogic has been growing rapidly since Bezlio was introduced in 2016, company founders Adam and Brian Ellis said. The firm now has 24 employees, with more to come, it says.

Then there is Drips, on North High Street downtown. Drips has a software-driven product that allows call centers to first communicate with customers via text to arrange phone contacts that are wanted and effective.

Founded in 2016, Drips employs 35 people. It occupies a floor in a building Tony Troppe owns and has first right of refusal to take over more space as needed.

"We can fit another 12 or 13 here with our current floor plan, and we have a right of refusal on another floor," Evans said.

Evans said he thinks the company is well ahead of any potential competitors in a space it basically invented, but it wants to stay ahead and will need more good people to do that.

"The market is going to take off, and we need to be equipped to stay out in front of it. In technology, no one knows who No. 2 is," Evans said.

The real questions for Akron, though, are whether these companies can survive and grow, and whether more can follow in their footsteps. That's certainly the plan, said Heather Roszczyk, innovation and entrepreneurship advocate with Akron's Office of Economic Development.

She's pleased with what she's seeing.

"I do think we're seeing some things bubble up," Roszczyk said. "Being candid, I'm not sure if this is due to the city entirely, or if we're just seeing an acceleration. But either way, I think we're seeing more activity than we've seen in a while, and that's great."

Like others, Roszczyk said one of the greatest challenges is helping new and growing firms find talent. While that's always a "work in progress," she said schools such as the University of Akron and Kent State University help, as do new training programs by workforce development organizations such as ConxusNEO and private entities like DriveIT.

That's an old problem that hasn't gone away, said Bill Whitlock, a longtime technical recruiter from Akron and currently business development manager at the Independence office of Modis, an IT consulting and staffing firm.

"The demand is as high as I have seen it," Whitlock said via email. "Unemployment is extremely low in the IT sector, and developers are in particularly high demand … Demand is just as high in Akron as in Cleveland or other markets around the country."

So far, the software companies in Akron say they've been able to find the talent they need.

Engle said he's found the people he needs by word of mouth and has recruited some folks from outside the area. About 70% of Metisentry's people are from the local area, though, he said.

He plans to continue to find and train the talent he needs to continue growing downtown.

"We really tried to build our headquarters here and are going to keep expanding it here. We have people around the country, but Akron's definitely where we're going to keep our headquarters and will have the most growth," Engle said.