It’s a day of celebration for the Orlando tech community, as the co-working space, Canvs, celebrates its one-year anniversary. The non-profit was founded to help support the city’s start-up scene, and serve as a hub for entrepreneurs.

Housed in the revitalized Church Street Exchange building downtown, Canvs is the beating heart of the tech community: It's an incubator that allows designers, coders and entrepreneurs to rent desk space and work in a collaborative environment. It was founded last year to make it easier for people to start and grow companies in Orlando.

“I think what we’ve learned is the definite need for this, and the collaboration, and the growth of the start-ups that can happen when they’re in one, concentrated, central place," said Orrett Davis, Orlando Tech's Executive Director. 

The co-working space is home to more than 150 members from 75 companies, and serves as a meeting place for monthly Orlando Tech Association meetups, where technologists share ideas.

And organizers say its own growth over the course of the year shows promise for establishing Orlando as a tech-driven city. 

“The tech scene here just didn’t even exist five years ago. So the fact that this place is open and full, within a year, is amazing,” said Melissa Wasserman, Canvs Director of Operations.

A celebratory gathering of business, government and technology leaders will be held at the Church Street Exchange building from 4 p.m. - 7 p.m. Thursday. It will include food and music. Tickets are $40 may be purchased at the Downtown Orlando Partnership website. Proceeds will support the FireSpring fund, a seed fund for promising technology start-ups.