QB3 Mission Bay Incubator Network

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The Challenge:

Launching an innovative bioscience company is hard. You need to build a team, validate the technology, and clarify the market opportunity—all before you are ready for substantial commercial funding. And you have very little money to operate with. But help is available: the QB3 Mission Bay Incubator Network is designed to catalyze progress through the difficult early stages. We enable you to bring innovations to market efficiently, with a minimum of seed capital.

The QB3 Garages and the private partners in the QB3 Mission Bay Incubator Network rent tiny amounts of space to young companies, allowing them to grow as their demands increase, and importantly, to take advantage of the intellectual stimulation and scientific resources of QB3 and UC. The QB3 Mission Bay Incubator Network will nurture the creation of small companies with large ambitions, creating a pipeline of innovation to meet society’s needs.

The Solution:

The QB3 Mission Bay Incubator Network is a public-private partnership between QB3 and its incubators, the QB3 Garage@UCSF and the QB3 Garage@Berkeley; the City of San Francisco; the San Francisco Center for Economic Development/Chamber of Commerce; FibroGen, Inc.; and Alexandria Real Estate.

Together these partners can help young companies be more productive and efficient by providing:

• Small amounts of space, precisely tailored to the company’s needs—as small as 100 square feet!
• Flexible lease terms that minimize cash demands and long-term commitment
• Access to scientific core facilities at a modest fee
• The intellectual vitality of being within a short stroll of one of the world’s great bioscience campuses—UCSF
• Mentoring and business services from QB3, the City of San Francisco, and the San Francisco Chamber of Commerce

This constellation of services has proven to be a powerful combination for launching successful companies. For instance, the QB3 Garage@UCSF has been home to 12 companies in the three years since it opened. Already four of these companies have secured venture funding, and a fifth was acquired for $25 M. The QB3 Mission Bay Incubator Network will allow many more companies to take advantage of this winning formula.

How It Works:

Small life science companies that are interested in a real estate footprint in Mission Bay as well as a connection with the Mission Bay life sciences community can contact QB3. QB3 “Knowledge Brokers” will then connect interested companies with real estate opportunities as well as other services as needed, including:

• Introductions to UC researchers for collaborations
• A broad range of core facilities that QB3 and UCSF provide to outside users for modest fees
• Seminars and symposia
• Entrepreneurial networking services: an ecosystem of investors, service providers, and entrepreneurs