Local tech company Beast Code broke ground Tuesday on its new 36,000-square-foot headquarters at Freedom Tech Center, bringing the homegrown defense contractor’s 230-plus employees closer to their new home after outgrowing facilities in Mary Esther.

• The ceremony brought together community leaders to celebrate what Beast Code CEO Matt Zimmerman described as the next chapter for a company.

“We started Beast Code because we’re tired of the traditional corporate ways. We wanted to build a cool software company that was relevant,” Zimmerman said during the ceremony. “We wanted to attract the best talent from around the nation to solve really hard problems.”

Beast Code, which specializes in creating virtual reality training environments and digital transformation solutions for military clients, has outgrown its current space. The company has expanded its mission beyond its original Navy visualization projects to support multiple branches of the military.

• “Everything from helping maintain nuclear weapon systems to helping launch rockets in space, it’s just mind blowing to me,” Zimmerman said, noting the company will celebrate its 11th anniversary in June.

Fort Walton Beach Chamber of Commerce CEO Ted Corcoran, who emceed the event, highlighted the remarkable growth of Beast Code.

“What started with seven founders around a folding table working with the US Navy to visualize a design for a new ship has morphed into one of the largest organizations in all of Okaloosa County, if not Northwest Florida,” Corcoran said.

Developer Jay Odom, whose Jay Odom Group owns Freedom Tech Center, described the 54-acre development as a unique opportunity in Fort Walton Beach. The site features two hotels, 312 apartments, 150,000 square feet of commercial space, and four planned restaurants.

• “We want to thank Matt and his team from Beast Code for believing in us and working with us for a number of years to finish the plans and break ground and move forward. We hope to be moving Matt into his new home, into his new world headquarters here in September of 2026,” Odom said.

Nathan Sparks, Executive Director of One Okaloosa Economic Development Council, shared how he introduced Zimmerman and Odom over barbecue in 2021 when Beast Code was searching for space to expand.

“Matt shared that Beast Code had outgrown the space they were in, and he also shared that they wanted to be in an environment that offered outdoor amenities and had a first-class presence,” Sparks said. “I knew Freedom Tech Center was perfect.”

Northwest Florida State College President Mel Ponder emphasized the project’s significance for the region.

• “What is being birthed today will result in an inheritance for our community, to our military, and to the many families that work here,” Ponder said, noting both Odom and Zimmerman are graduates of the college.

The project is scheduled for completion in September 2026, according to Odom.

The two-story building will be located at 690 Liberty Lane NW on property leased from the Air Force. Last year, Beast Code secured a $500 million contract with the Navy for its technology that creates “digital threads” across 3D models, documents and metadata.