Editor's note: This is the second story in a three-part series focused on NH's growing high-tech ecosystem. The third part, which will run in January, will focus on challenges facing the ecosystem.
It's a twist on the classic dilemma: which came first, the chicken or the egg? In NH, the question has been do you try to lure the big chickens to NH and hope they lay some golden eggs, or hatch some fledglings and help them grow? During the past 18 months, the answer has become clear-NH is investing in incubating and growing its own.
A variety of leaders have stepped up to create new sources of venture funding and seed capital (covered in the November issue) and find new ways to support startups. An important part of NH's emerging high-tech ecosystem is its incubators and innovation centers, which traditionally just provided affordable space to startups until they get their financial wings to fly from the nest. Now some are reassessing their roles to provide better, focused services to startups while others are expanding to keep up with a wave of new ventures.
It's sharing ideas in open ways that is creating value and giving entrepreneurs more confidence in starting up, says Matt Pierson, a leading venture capitalist in NH, of the important role of incubators.
abi Innovation Hub
The abi Innovation Hub in Manchester has spent the past year reinventing itself to better meet the needs of NH's tech startups. abi is a primary founder of two business competitions that provide seed money and attention to innovative tech companies-TechOut and Venture X, the abi also launched Accelerate NH, which provides early-stage startups with resources to grow including one-on-one mentorship with successful entrepreneurs, introductions to venture capitalists and angel investors, networking and regular check-ins with abi's CEO and Entrepreneur-in-Residence Jamie Coughlin.
As part of its reinvention, the abi relocated in November from Manchester's mill district to Elm Street. Its former space was carved up into individual offices for rent. The new space is less focused on renting space and more focused on the services it offers entrepreneurs, such as reliable Internet, mentors, and shared resources, says Coughlin. There is now one open room with work stations for people to land at, and shared conference rooms off to the side. It will create more vibrancy and cross pollination by keeping it open. The abi is currently assisting 25 businesses.
NH-ICC
Mark Galvin partnered with other entrepreneurs and the University of NH to open the NH Innovation Commercialization Center in Portsmouth in 2010. The NH-ICC accepts new companies each quarter and provides them with coaching for a year to become viable businesses that then allow them to graduate from the NH-ICC. It also offers to take an equity stake in the startups that join the NH-ICC's accelerator program and is meant to be a place where UNH students and faculty commercialize their ideas. The ICC is about nurturing. We have a staff that are experts in finance, channel development and marketing, says Galvin, managing director of the NH-ICC and the founder of four successful tech companies.
Galvin says it is important for NH to nurture high tech startups as they will develop innovative technology and create new jobs and grow the economy. We're currently accelerating five companies here, Galvin says, including two started by UNH students and recent graduates-Regaalo, a social ecommerce site that helps parents stay connected to their college students (see story on Page 11), and EzCao, a job-matching website that connects employers with students and helps college students land their first job.
There are also nine more companies in NH-ICC's incubator for a total of 14 companies it is helping to grow. The NH-ICC has helped companies to create 52 jobs through the accelerator and another 30 in the incubator, Galvin says.
Galvin says the NH-ICC is itself a start-up trying to overcome challenges similar to its tenants, such as paying rent.
The NH-ICC is further spurring innovation through its Disruptivate conferences. Launched this past spring, the first conference focused on disruptive technology and innovations-businesses and ideas that are transforming their industries. The conference attracted 240 attendees, and six companies were recognized as Disruptivators to Watch out of an applicant pool of 50. That success led to a second conference in the fall focused on education and health care.
North Country's Tech Village
Skiing, hiking and shopping immediately spring to mind when people think of the North Country, not high-tech companies. Jac Cuddy, executive director of the Mount Washington Valley Economic Council, is trying to change that. I think that right now there is a mindset on the part of the state that the only space where technology is happening is in the south, Cuddy says. That's a hard thing to overcome.
The Mount Washington Valley Economic Council opened the Technology Village in Conway in 2006 to stimulate the growth of small high-tech companies in the North Country. The Tech Village, which houses a Business Resource Center, technology business incubator, and a learning center that includes Granite State College, is full and looking to expand.
There are seven businesses in the incubator, with almost 50 employees in total. Its tenants include Rapid Insight, a developer of business intelligence and predictive analytics software, whose clients include colleges and universities across the country.
The Tech Village is also home to Animetrics, which develops 3-D facial recognition technology and was founded in 2002. The company attracted a couple million dollars in venture capital from North Country angels in its initial round of fundraising, says Animetrics President Paul Schuepp, and now generates between $2 million and $5 million in annual revenues. It has grown without having to take any outside capital since then and now has a dozen employees. Animetrics recently opened an office in Maryland to better serve its government customers.
Schuepp and Cuddy say the North Country is home to many retired executives looking to make investments.
With 71 acres of land available, Cuddy says there is plenty of space for companies to build. Operational costs for businesses is less expensive here than in the southern part of the state, he says. Salary swings are less up here than in the southern part of the state.
Dartmouth's Magnet
The Upper Valley is a high tech and biotech Mecca, from Merck, which acquired homegrown GlycoFi in the largest biotech deal in NH, to Best Companies to Work For winners Olympus Biotech and Hypertherm.
It's no big secret why the Upper Valley is a hub-it's home to Dartmouth College and Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center. Adimab is only here because Dartmouth is here. Otherwise we would be in Cambridge. Without Dartmouth, there is no Adimab or GlycoFi, says Errik Anderson, COO of Adimab, pointing out both biotech companies were founded by Tillman Gerngross, a Dartmouth College professor and entrepreneur. Gerngross chose to incubate his startups at the Dartmouth Regional Technology Center (DRTC) in Lebanon, a technology incubator established in 2004 to foster the development of high-growth tech startups in NH.
The DRTC provides flexible wet-lab space for startups as well as light manufacturing and office space, access to educational resources and programs at one of the country's most prestigious colleges, strategic advice and support, shared services, and networking to connect members to financial and business resources. It fits within the larger ecosystem of Dartmouth, says Gregg Fairbrothers, executive director of DRTC, which houses a dozen companies that range from biotech to IT. Dartmouth wants it to be a resource for the community.
The DRTC recently completed a $5 million expansion, growing its footprint from 32,000 square feet to 56,000. Before it could be occupied, the DRTC had commitments for 80 percent of that space.
Nashua Technology Park
Nashua doesn't have an incubator, but the Gateway City has a long history of attracting and growing high tech companies. Some of the biggest players in the tech community have facilities in Nashua, including BAE Systems and Dell.
Chris Williams, president of the Greater Nashua Chamber of Commerce, says tech companies are attracted to the Nashua area because it has solid infrastructure, including broadband and transportation, and access to a large pool of skilled talent.
To attract more tech companies, the city created a public-private initiative with the John J. Flatley Company, a real estate development firm that owned a tract of land near the Massachusetts border, in 2007 to redevelop the land into the Nashua Technology Park.
Dell, Axis Technologies and Amphenol all now have facilities there, says Williams, as well as several smaller tech companies. Massachusetts-based AspenTech, a supplier of software that optimizes process manufacturing, opened a new R&D facility at Nashua Technology Park in October with 80 employees. The company, which closed out its most recent fiscal year in June with $240 million in revenues, plans to eventually increase its employee count in Nashua to 150, says Mark Fusco, president and CEO. We've got an option on an equal amount of space that we'll eventually take, Fusco says. We'll continue to grow and expand in southern New Hampshire.
Coworking Centers Support Seacoast Startups
Tom Elliott came to Durham in 2009 to live in the Seacoast and be part of a tech ecosystem. However, as a one-man home-based business, Elliott craved creative interaction and was frustrated to find no coworking spaces. So in 2010 he created one, renting 600 square feet in downtown Durham and setting up a membership-based coworking facility-Idea Greenhouse-that offers entrepreneurs and startups affordable, flexible space to work and network.
I found dozens and dozens of people stuffing themselves into this 600 square foot space for our events, Elliott says.
In March 2011, Elliott partnered with UNH to expand to a 2,400 square-foot space, and now counts among its clients a veggie burger startup and a footwear manufacturing startup. The space includes 10 workstations, private offices, a drop-in work area and event space. Other similar spaces have since opened.
Alpha Loft
Alpha Loft, aimed at tech and creative startups, was created by Joshua Cyr two years ago on Congress Street in Portsmouth. Cyr says the mix of people makes for a good collision for ideas.
Alpha Loft quickly sold out of its dedicated desk space and added four more, Cyr says. Alpha Loft now has 10 desks ($200 a month) and a half-dozen slots for drop-ins ($100 per month).
Alpha Loft has launched http://seacoast.io, which includes an online listing of events in the region and a map of with resources that help startups.
Dover's Tech Ecosystem
While Portsmouth is known for its innovative startups, Dover has quietly become a hotbed of entrepreneurial activity. Collaborative Office Group, or COG, was launched in March by Dave Boynton, executive director of Seacoast Local, a nonprofit that promotes buying local and helping independent businesses grow, and Ryan Bedard, founder of Ecomovement. The pair needed office space and rented enough space in Dover's mill district to house many other nonprofits and entrepreneurs.
COG houses 12 businesses including the Health and Safety Council of Strafford County and Dogtooth Construction.
Drop-in space rents for $75 a month, dedicated desk space rents for about $250, and private offices rent for about $600. Shared amenities include high-speed business class Internet, a conference room with projector and event space.
A second coworking center, Tech Mill, is opening this month in the Cocheco Mills focused on technology and creative startups. Each of these coworking centers offer a slight twist on the same concept. The world is richer when different people spend time together, Elliott says.
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