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The tech-centric co-working community Hacker Dojo has outgrown its Mountain View location and is moving to Santa Clara this week.
The new location at 3200 Patrick Henry Drive, Suite 250, opened Monday, Oct. 12, with furniture and other large equipment having been moved over the weekend. The Santa Clara space has double the square footage of the Mountain View location, which board chair Emily Johnson said the team hopes will help facilitate the nonprofit’s growth.
“The biggest struggle we had in the current location is we have three core community types: we have coworking people, we have people who want to come in and learn, and then we have this start-up environment,” Johnson said. “We just couldn’t cater to all of it at once.”
She added that there were other structural issues with the heating, cooling and plumbing systems at the previous location, which is scheduled for demolition next year.
Hacker Dojo describes itself as “Silicon Valley’s longest running hackerspace,” originally opening in Mountain View in 2009 and relocating around the region multiple times. Most recently, Hacker Dojo has been operating out of 855 Maude Ave. in Mountain View, near the Sunnyvale border.
The nonprofit offers its members access to community workspaces, equipment and events, including hackathons and various tech-related workshops. Hacker Dojo was the starting place for multiple well-known companies, including Pinterest and Word Lens, a translation app acquired by Google.
A Hacker Dojo press release about the move emphasised the increased need for spaces to learn about technology, pointing to the slew of tech industry layoffs and rise of artificial intelligence as evidence of the industry’s quick progression.
“People need a space to learn, to retool, and to take an idea to market. Now we have twice the room to give them one,” spokesperson Mark Stofer said in the press release.
The new space brings opportunities for Hacker Dojo, including an expansion of its in-person youth programs and private rooms that can be reserved by members. According to Johnson, the youth program has been growing quickly since it launched in 2023, and members have already been reserving the private rooms for their ventures.
The nonprofit was previously in Santa Clara before the pandemic. Back then, Hacker Dojo had about 400 members; now, the nonprofit has about 150, though it was close to 200 earlier this year. Johnson attributed the decline to the previous building’s broken HVAC system, which meant the warehouse office had no air conditioning during the summer’s heatwaves.
Membership costs $150 a month, with some discounts for students and veterans, though Johnson said the monthly price is increasing to $180 on November 1 to account for rising operating costs.
Hacker Dojo has sought to expand in the past, including attempts to purchase a second location in Sunnyvale. However, Johnson said that effort petered out after the nonprofit wasn’t able to fundraise enough for the security deposit. She added that the new location’s size should meet the anticipated membership growth.
As a nonprofit, Johnson said they’re hoping for donations to continue furnishing the new space. They only have enough money to cover about 60% of the building’s internet and have a catalog of equipment available to buy and donate on their website — a move Johnson said she hopes brings extra transparency to how funds are used.
She told the Voice that they’re especially excited about the expanded services and opportunities that the larger space presents.
“We have other items in the works that we’re looking at, we’re not ready to announce those but it’s getting to the point where we’re going to have more regular hackathons — like actual paid ones — then adult classes,” Johnson said. “I’m excited.”
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