The WMed Innovation Center added three new client firms in November – Hibiskus BioPharma, DerPharm, and SafeSense Technologies LLC. All three technology companies are participating in one of three new co-working programs offered by the Innovation Center.
Hibiskus Biopharma is an early stage drug discovery company utilizing technology developed at Michigan State University and the University of California in Riverside. The company’s lead compound, TIR199, is a proteasome inhibitor that may have significant activity in solid tumors; in particular, renal carcinoma. Hibiskus BioPharma is currently utilizing the Ideation Station co-working office space and plans to transition to the Launch MI Lab co-working lab program if awarded a federal Small Business Innovation Research grant in early 2018. Hibiskus BioPharma anticipates occupying a dedicated lab and office as it meets its milestones.
“After considering a number of options, we chose the Innovation Center because of its great instrumentation core facilities and close proximity to other biotech companies,” Hibiskus BioPharma co-founder Dr. Andre Bachmann said. “This setup is attractive and offers an opportunity for collaboration and synergism.”
DerPharm is a Swiss firm in the business of developing, manufacturing and marketing novel topical skin care medications. In Europe, DerPharm has a strong line of products that it sells directly to consumers as over-the-counter products. DerPharm’s presence in the Innovation Center marks the company’s first foray into the North American market. Like Hibiskus BioPharma, DerPharm is also utilizing the Ideation Station co-working space and plans to transition to Launch MI Lab, eventually occupying dedicated lab and office space.
Paul Goldenbeld of DerPharm finds that the Innovation Center suits all his business needs. “The innovation Center in Kalamazoo is the perfect platform for the launch of our US operations. They offer the office/conference and lab space flexibility that a new company needs; and the professional management of the center is extremely accommodating and business oriented. In addition, we are surrounded by many small/medium support companies in the same building, offering crucial support services to our product development effort. This synergistic environment together with the abundance of healthcare, pharma, and biotech related resources in the SW Michigan area, makes the Innovation Center, our new home, an exciting place to start growing our business.”
SafeSense Technologies LLC is a sensor technology company providing innovative solutions using flexible hybrid electronics for the sports performance, physical therapy and medical diagnostics markets. SafeSense Technologies has developed SCOUT, a “smart helmet impact sensing system” which helmet manufacturers can use in existing helmets to automatically record and communicate the occurrence of potentially dangerous impacts. SafeSense Technologies is the first client of the new Workbench co-working engineering space.
“The Workbench in the WMed Innovation Center is the perfect engineering co-working space for technology based start-up companies,” said SafeSense Technologies’ co-founder Binu Baby Narakathu. “The Center provides an opportunity to collaborate with, and learn from, similar small businesses which are at various stages of their growth cycle. Moreover, the location of the Center enables easy access to the engineering facilities and resources at the College of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Western Michigan University.”
In addition to its premiere business incubation program, the Innovation Center offers three new co-working programs designed to help entrepreneurs with limited budgets get started in affordable, shared space. The Ideation Station is a co-working office environment equipped with high-speed wireless internet, several work areas, business model canvas boards, and a business library. The Workbench is an engineering co-working space well suited to the development of minimum viable products. It has ample floor space and electrified tables for building prototypes. Launch MI Lab is a co-working laboratory area in which researchers can occupy an 8-foot section of bench and work alongside other scientists. All Launch MI Lab clients have access to sophisticated scientific equipment, including a mass spectrophotometer, a plate reader, cell culture equipment, a shaker table, centrifuges, microscopes, autoclaves, and more.
“All of the Innovation Center’s co-working programs were designed to provide technology entrepreneurs in the earliest stages of company development the level of support required at the lowest possible price,” said Sandra Cochrane, WMed Assistant Dean of the Innovation Center. “The first step is the hardest, and we want to make it easy for entrepreneurs to get started with the support they need in order to grow their businesses.”
The range of programs available at the Innovation Center, from shared co-working space all the way to thousands of square feet of dedicated laboratory and office space, means that early stage technology companies can find the right kind of support at the right cost. The flexible options and ability to grow within the Innovation Center is attracting entrepreneurs from across Michigan, and even from across the globe. Any technology entrepreneur looking for a supportive environment and room to grow a company should consider the WMed Innovation Center.