Biotech in NYC? Yes, it exists.


I was in Manhattan yesterday at NYU-Poly’s incubator space on Varick Street attending a meetup organized by NYC Bio. They have the modest goal of trying to evolve a biotech ecosystem in the NYC area to rival a few other well-known life-science hubs. One reason I came was to see how many people–students, post-docs, investors, and bio-med startup founders–would show up. And they did come.

This was not a typical event for TvB, but curiosity got the better. First I learned that the Varick Street space was established about two years ago as a Bloomberg initiative to bring public and private sectors together for promoting economic development–meaning lets help launch startups.

And there is an active program in place at Varick. They’ve raised $50 million, and had 60 companies incubate and take flight. Their current freshman class covers digital media, legal tech, decision software, as well as some bio-medical. By the way, NYU-Poly has true incubator cred: there’s a ping-pong table, and a spirited game was underway when I arrived. 

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