At its annual Party at Arms fundraiser in Manchester, the abiHUB announced another step in an ongoing transformation that began little more than a year ago. abiHUB CEO Mark Kaplan and Board Chair Kyle York, chief revenue officer at Dyn, a tech firm in Manchester, announced that the organization has purchased the assets of Portsmouth co-working space Alpha Loft and hired its founder and owner Joshua Cyr. The joint organization will be called Alpha Loft going forward.
“The name Alpha Loft is a strong, relevant brand foundation for us to build upon,” York said. “Alpha represents strength and starting, as the first letter of the Greek alphabet and Loft isn’t only a place it’s the flight of a ball soaring upward. It makes us think of our NH startups really taking off.”
Cyr, who was named last week as one of the Seacoast's 10 to Watch founded Alpha Loft and has been a strong advocate for entrepreneurship in NH. “In his new role with us, Joshua will continue as an evangelist in the ecosystem, and will be working closely with me to launch our new education and accelerator programs,” said Kaplan.
“I’ve been promoting entrepreneurship on the seacoast for years, and with this opportunity I can be engaged as part of a much broader effort statewide. I’m excited to be working with a great team, and gratified that the organization sees value in Alpha Loft,” said Cyr.
The organization will immediately change its name, and will introduce new branding in the coming months. It has also begun operating the Market Square location Cyr opened two and a half years ago.
UNH continues to play a significant partnership role, as the organization further enhances the commercialization of intellectual property and research coming out of the university and supports student and faculty entrepreneurship. UNH continues to display visionary support for entrepreneurial economic development throughout the state along with Manchester headquartered Internet Performance Company Dyn, which leveraged more than $150,000 of support through NH Community Development Finance Authority (CDFA) tax credits. Other sponsors include: SNHU, Borealis Ventures, Nixon Peabody, GYK Antler, Howe Riley Howe, Cook Little Rosenblatt & Manson, and more.
Alpha Loft has an exceptional group of experienced entrepreneurs, investors, and service providers serving on its board; it is involved in numerous events including TechOut, the NH StartUp Challenge, StartUP Rochester, Founders’ Series and the Party at Arms; and is working to develop the NH entrepreneurial ecosystem.