Story provided by Alex Moe, WisBusiness.com
Startups located in Forward BIOLABS have collectively received more than $360 million in grants and investment, according to the organization’s first impact report.
More than 40 businesses have resided at the Madison-based coworking space since it launched five years ago, the report shows. Jessica Martin Eckerly, CEO and co-founder of Forward BIOLABS, notes all of the companies that have moved onto their own spaces have stayed in the greater Madison area.
“As we celebrate these accomplishments, there are fantastic new opportunities on the horizon — to impact more entrepreneurs with our offerings and grow the recognition of Wisconsin as a hub for young companies,” she said in the report.
Due to the capital-intensive nature of launching and growing a company in the biotech space, Forward BIOLABS provides fully equipped scientific laboratory spaces to help these companies get off the ground.
Aaron Olver, president of the organization’s board of directors and managing director of University Research Park, says the Madison area needs this type of infrastructure for startups doing proof-of-concept work and developing prototypes.
“Unlike other technology startups that seem to run on wireless internet, bottomless coffee and pizza, science companies face special barriers,” he said. “They often require expensive and specialized equipment, intensive technical advice and greater amounts of capital to navigate regulatory approvals and long product development cycles.”
Eighty percent of the resident startups have UW-Madison connections, and 70% are spinoffs from the university, the report shows.
Of the total $360 million figure received by Forward BIOLABS startups, more than $310 million has come in the form of investment. Those deals have involved more than 45 venture capital firms across at least 14 countries. The other $50 million has come through more than 56 awards, including 10 different federal agencies.
The report includes a number of case studies highlighting specific startups that have come through the space, including Madison-based Ayrflo. This company is developing a medical device that can monitor breathing patterns in patients. Founder and CEO Guelay Bilen-Rosas notes the business can’t remain at the university and isn’t far along enough in its growth journey to get space of its own.
“This is one of the things that makes Forward BIOLABS special — it’s ‘home’ for those of us early in our startup journey,” she said in the report.
Gov. Tony Evers applauded the lab on its five-year anniversary in a video message, noting it’s “bringing together some of the best and brightest professionals and encouraging companies to focus on their product development, rather than on logistics and operations.”
