Venice Beach over the last decade has become an incubator for startup tech companies. According to a silconbeachla.com database, there are 15 startups currently in Venice Beach in industries ranging from sporting event ticketing apps like pogoseat, to Wevr, a virtual reality platform where designers and engineers can showcase their VR creatives.

The number of startups claiming a stake in Venice Beach is now expected to grow. Snap Inc., the parent company of the popular social media app Snapchat, announced recently its plans to move most of the company's operations from its current 14 decentralized, individual office locations throughout Venice Beach to one large building in a business park in Santa Monica.

"While we are looking forward to bringing teams closer together in Santa Monica, Venice is a magical place and we're so grateful to have started and grown our company here," Snap Inc. wrote in a public statement.

Snapchat's move to Santa Monica is sure to impact the Silicon Beach real estate market. Many of the 14 locations out of which Snap Inc. operated out of were renovated and modernized and make ideal work space for startups and tech companies wanting to conduct business in an innovative tech hub. Combined, the available properties from Snapchat's relocation measures about 163,000 square feet, more than 90,000 square feet of which is along the Venice Boardwalk, according to Curbed LA.

Dave Toomey, principal at Cresa, which specializes in representing tech and media company tenants on the Westside, told CoStar News the move could open opportunities for smaller tech companies trying to break into the highly desired Venice market. "It opens the space to other tenants. It could make Venice a healthier market because it's not dependent on two or three big users," Toomey said. "It'll be much more diverse."

Over the last decade and half, a collection of coastal neighborhoods on Los Angeles' westside have become known as Southern California's version of Silicon Valley, with hundreds of startups and tech companies operating out of the area. With Murphy Research's headquarters located in the heart of Santa Monica, we are thrilled to call Silicon Beach our home and hope to contribute to the innovation and ingenuity that makes this area so special.