Incubating the Future: The Carolinas
Rebecca Kaufman surveys the bio-incubator scene throughout the Southeast in this series. Today, the Carolinas.
SOUTH CAROLINA
Greenwood, SC is home the South Carolina Biotechnology Incubation Facility, which opened in 2002.
The facility houses six laboratory modules, a library, a conference center, offices, and support space and is operated by a Board of Governors in cooperation with the Greenwood County Economic Alliance with State appropriated funds. A five-hundred acre research park, the Greenwood Biotechnology Park, is in development nearby to provide facilities for graduate companies.
The University of South Carolina operates a technology incubator in downtown Columbia, with 43,000 square feet including offices and potential laboratories managed by the USC Research Foundation. Current tenants include several life sciences companies.
NORTH CAROLINA
North Carolina offers biosciences incubators in several locations throughout the state. In Raleigh-Durham, the traditional life sciences stronghold, the First Flight Venture Center is a 16,000 square foot facility offering flexible leases, shared business services, technology support services, and management guidance and counseling for up to 25 emerging technology companies, including life sciences companies.
John Draper, an attorney with over 25 years of experience as an entrepreneur and private equity investor, serves as President of the Center.
The NC State Technology Incubator is a mix-used incubator that provides an additional 10 wet lab suites on the Centennial campus in Raleigh. The start-up company must have ties to NCSU or wish to establish ties to NCSU research and development.
RTP is also home to several for-profit life sciences incubators, including the Becton Dickinson (BD) Bioventure Center, which provides space, equipment and support services for companies developing technology of strategic importance to BD, including drug and vaccine delivery; biosensors; information technology and cellular and tissue engineering.
To be considered, the candidate company must have a research collaboration in place with BD. The BD facility provides a 2 year maximum stay.
Fourteen companies have participated in the program to date.
Outside of the RTP area, the North Carolina Research Campus under development in Kannapolis will include an incubator for start-up firms which will have access to shared scientific equipment and facilities.
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