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abouTresearch
BUSINESS
INCUBATOR TAKES SHAPE
By
JENNIFER MADDOX
James Lancaster, General Manager
Research Valley Innovation Center
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Since1990, the
Research Valley Partnership (RVP) has made it its mission
to encourage expansion and relocation of businesses
to the area. Now it has taken that concept to another
level with the creation of the Research Valley Innovation
Center (RVIC).
The RVIC is a science and technology incubator/accelerator that
was created to help early-stage ventures make the transition into
successful businesses. It was conceived just over a year ago during
the RVP’s strategic planning process. It was decided that
the first step would be to hire an experienced general manager
for the Innovation Center and let that person establish which direction
the incubator should go after interacting with the companies and
determining what their needs are.
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"RVIC
is a start-up in its own
right. We're a start-up of
start-ups."
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So on September 10th,
the RVP held a press conference to announce new RVIC General Manager James Lancaster.
Lancaster feels that this job is the perfect combination for him because, as an
Aggie graduate, not only does he have strong ties to the area, he also has an
extensive background advising entrepreneurs and early-stage companies. He has
spent the last eight years working with eight different start-up companies as
a mentor, advisor, and angel investor.
“RVIC is a start-up in its own right,” said Lancaster. “We’re
a start-up of start-ups.”
The RVIC offers personalized service to businesses through one-on-one consulting.
They spend time with the company to find out what their needs are, from fundraising
to sales to marketing strategies.
“It’s very consultative; it’s different in every case,”
said Lancaster. “Sometimes it’s real hands-on. Sometimes it’s
informal advisory. It’s hands-off if they have a strong and broad management
team.”
Once the company’s needs are determined, the RVIC will go to great lengths
to try to meet those needs whether it’s introducing them to potential investors,
putting them in contact with potential development partners or employees, or even
hooking them up with bankers and attorneys.
Usually, the companies that Lancaster comes into contact with have already done
some of the legwork by the time they approach him.
“I rarely have people coming up and saying ‘Hey, I have a great technology.
What do I do with it?’” he said. “The good thing is they’ve
already figured that out.”
There are generally three types of companies that the RVIC is currently working
with. First, there are what Lancaster refers to are “pre-client coaching
candidates.” The RVIC will communicate with these companies to understand
their business and its needs. If it is determined that they would be a good fit,
the RVIC will work with them to fill out a client application.
Next, there are the incubator clients. These companies are still in the concept
or prototype stage, but they are not ready to launch a marketable product. “The
assumption would be that we would help them get through that phase where they’re
still fragile and they need the right controlled environment,” explains
Lancaster.
Then, there are the accelerator clients. These companies already have their first
product on the market, but it may be in limited distribution. “[We’re]
helping them scale up to go after the full market,” said Lancaster. These
companies typically won’t need more than a year at the center.
There have been some previous attempts to establish incubator programs in this
area; however, because the RVIC is the first fully-collaborative partnership between
the RVP, Texas A&M University, the University system, and private businesses,
Lancaster hopes that will make the difference.
Sources:
www.rvic.org
www.researchvalley.org
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