Lt. Gov. Polito Joins UMass Lowell to Open Business Incubators

10/06/2015

Media contacts: Christine Gillette, 978-934-2209 or Christine_Gillette@uml.edu and Nancy Cicco, 978-934-4944 or Nancy_Cicco@uml.edu

LOWELL, Mass. – More than 100 people – including Lt. Gov. Karyn Polito, UMass President Marty Meehan and UMass Lowell Chancellor Jacquie Moloney – today celebrated the official opening of two new facilities designed to spur growth and innovation in the technology and medical-device sectors. 

Located on two floors of the new 110 Canal building in downtown Lowell, the UMass Lowell Innovation Hub (iHub) and the expansion of the Massachusetts Medical Device Development Center (M2D2) each offer entrepreneurs co-working space and access to a variety of resources they need to get their startups off the ground. 

“UMass Lowell established these facilities to foster innovation, entrepreneurship, economic development and job creation,” said Moloney. “The Innovation Hub and M2D2 are doing this by linking startups and entrepreneurs to the university’s world-class faculty and their expertise, as well as the resources of a research institution and the region’s business community. The companies that result will help fuel Massachusetts’ economy for years to come.” 

Plans to establish the iHub and M2D2 incubators at 110 Canal were announced in 2014 and both received support from the state toward the cost of building out the space. Both facilities received praise at the opening event from Polito for bringing together the resources needed to help companies get established and grow in the Commonwealth.

“You have already set the example for others. What you have here in Lowell works,” Polito said, citing the partnerships UMass Lowell has formed with the private and public sectors to establish the Innovation Hub and M2D2 facilities. “You have a model here that will translate to other parts of the state.” 

The University of Massachusetts system is not only providing facilities and expertise to help businesses in cutting-edge fields like those that will make the iHub and M2D2 home, it is educating their future employees, Meehan said.

“Eighty percent of the 73,000 students enrolled at UMass campuses will stay in Massachusetts,” said Meehan. “That is the workforce this Commonwealth needs to meet the needs of business and industry.”

The incubators each occupy an 11,000-square-foot floor in the new 110 Canal building, which is being developed by Trinity Financial. Located on the third floor the iHub caters to fledgling businesses in technology and related fields, such as robotics, nanotechnology, clean tech, energy systems, sensors and controls, and advanced materials. 

Among the companies that have already moved into the iHub is Nonspec, which grew out of an award-winning student project developed through UMass Lowell’s DifferenceMaker Idea Challenge. The Nonspec team, which now includes UMass Lowell graduates and a doctoral student, designed a scalable, low-cost prosthetic limb that is intended for children in developing nations. 

Yesterday, Workbar announced that the iHub has joined its network of shared, co-working office spaces that includes 800 members from more than 50 companies and more than 20 regional network spaces throughout the Greater Boston area. Through the partnership, iHub clients will be able to work out of any Workbar network location, including Boston and Cambridge, and members of Workbar and its network partners will have access to the iHub’s facilities and amenities, including a fully equipped makerspace; engineering, business, design and manufacturing resources, a fabrication lab and more.

One floor up from the iHub, M2D2, a joint venture of UMass Lowell and UMass Medical School in Worcester, continues its tradition of bringing engineering, business and prototyping expertise to medical-device startups. Founded in 2007, M2D2 has helped 100 companies secure $52 million in private equity funding and $6 million via federal and state grants. In 2011, M2D2 opened its first incubator in the Wannalancit Business Center adjacent to UMass Lowell’s East Campus. That facility is home to 15 companies and the new location on the fourth floor of 110 Canal is an expansion of both the space and resources available to medical-device entrepreneurs.

“M2D2 is a wonderful coming together of the expertise of our medical school faculty – both in patient care and biomedical research – and the engineering expertise here on our sister campus in Lowell. Our specialties complement each other perfectly,” said UMass Medical School Chancellor Michael Collins, M.D. “Our medical school is committed to making a positive impact on human health and on the economic development in every region in the Commonwealth.”

The M2D2 and iHub facilities are the first commercial developments in the revitalization of Lowell’s Hamilton Canal District, which is located between the heart of the city’s downtown and both highways and multi-modal transit, including the MBTA commuter rail, at the Gallagher Transportation Terminal. 

Lowell Mayor Rodney Elliott said during his remarks at the opening event that the business incubators are a good example of what the city’s relationship with UMass Lowell offers, citing the success of M2D2’s clients to date in securing $58 million in external funding and what that will mean for the local economy. 

City Manager Kevin Murphy echoed that appreciation. “I know that the future of Lowell is directly related to the success of UMass Lowell,” he said.

UMass Lowell is a national research university located on a high-energy campus in the heart of a global community. The university offers its 17,500 students bachelor’s, master’s and doctoral degrees in business, education, engineering, fine arts, health, humanities, sciences and social sciences. UMass Lowell delivers high-quality educational programs, vigorous hands-on learning and personal attention from leading faculty and staff, all of which prepare graduates to be ready for work, for life and for all the world offers. www.uml.edu