Below is a press release I received last week from several former OTBC residents who banded together to lease a space when OTBC shifted from a landlord model to a membership model. They are calling themselves the Innovation Matrix, and I encourage west-side startups who are looking for space to check them out!
Here’s the release:
As a sign of the times, several early stage technology companies have found new ways to cooperate and manage resources.
Six technology companies have joined together to form The Innovation Matrix, a facility in Cornell Oaks Business Park in which these early stage companies share more than space. The six companies include three optical technology companies – Lumencor, Tau Science, and UVCleaning Systems. Three other companies are Klassic, Zubeo, and TechSpi, all who are or were involved in the OTBC, which relocated recently to a new facility in the Round in downtown Beaverton. The six companies decided to rent a facility together, and along the way have found other creative ways to cooperate, minimize expenses, and maximize resources.
Steven Jaffe, CEO of Lumencor, who is developing a light source for biotech instruments like DNA sequencers, identified a common theme among the group of companies – all were having a difficult time finding high quality space with room to grow, and all enjoyed the camaraderie of other companies in the early stages of growth. “The OTBC was great for coaching us in the early stages, but several of us have some investors, product to build, and customers to support, and needed some room to grow”. Steven approached Darci Duffy, the Sr Director of Leasing for PS Business parks with a proposal – could a group of companies rent a portion of a building, leaving adjacent room to grow? Darci liked the idea, and the companies agreed to pool their resources and rent a 5000 sqft facility in the Cornell Oaks Business parks, and call it “The Innovation Matrix”. The Lumencor team did the heavy lifting in the setup and move, and are subleasing to the other companies.
Mark Owen, CEO of UVCleaning Systems, a company building water purification systems that destroy contaminants with light activated coatings, liked the potential synergy of the idea. “We’d been working closely with Lumencor already, and have shared investor connections, business plans, suppliers, and even engineers and equipment. We’re discussing quantity buys on shared components, sharing financial advisors, and other service providers”. Mark also keeps the kitchen well supplied and organizes community service projects.
Jamie Hudson, President of Tau Science, a company developing high speed inspection for solar cell manufacturers, also joined in. “The quality of the space exceeded others we found and we are able to leverage the in-house light engine and semiconductor equipment experience in our development.”
David Smith, CEO of Techspi, felt it was an ideal location for their Next-Generation Cloud IT Services initiative, now in the first stage of beta testing. “It was a natural fit to move this portion of our business in with these other innovative companies and to work with several of them as beta clients as we enter the next phase in 2009″. David finds there are additional benefits to the Matrix. “While Techspi has been in business serving the SMB and local government markets since 1997, this next-gen initiative is nonetheless very much a startup, and the association with the other companies in the Matrix can be both encouraging and intellectually stimulating, and walking next door to chat with Steven at 10:30 PM can make the day seem a little bit shorter….” Techspi installed and maintains the network infrastructure in the Matrix.
Kevin Ulam, CEO of Zubeo, a SW company developing personalized MP3 Audio, created The Innovation Matrix website, and has hired a new employee recommended by one of the other tenants. “It is great to have the camaraderie of a shared office, conference space, and the encouragement to try different ideas”.
Miguel Mendez, CEO of Klassic, a gourmet food delivery company, that applies state of art IT systems and package delivery techniques to make gourmet food ordering and delivery as easy and quick as ordering pizza delivery, was unanimously voted into the Matrix. “I think they are hoping I will bring them food”, he joked, “and actually, we will need some product test trials soon”.
If you’d like to enter the Matrix, check them out at www.theinnovationmatrix.com or stop by at 15250 NW Greenbrier Parkway in Beaverton. Maybe you are The One!
