UF’s Innovation Hub expansion nearing completion

Start-up companies in Gainesville will soon have a new space to develop in.

The Innovation Hub, a technology incubator that provides resources and expertise to start-up companies, will double in size to nearly 100,000 square feet after its expansion is complete, said Jane Muir, the director of the Innovation Hub.

The expansion, located at 727 SW Second Ave., is using $8 million from the U.S. Economic Development Administration and $9 million from UF to develop, Muir said. It is expected to be completed by the end of this year, with no specific date set, she said.

The expansion will add more offices and laboratories as well as The Collaboratory for Women Innovators, which will be a program to engage women in technology start-ups, Muir said.

“We were basically operating at capacity,” Muir said. “We wanted to have additional space so that we could help that many more companies.”

The Innovation Hub opened in 2011, and Muir wrote a grant to expand the facility in 2016, Muir said. In three and a half years, companies housed in the Innovation Hub created more than 700 jobs and attracted more than $60 million in private investment to the community, Muir said.

Benjamin King’s company, HealthSteps, which synchronizes a person’s digital healthcare plan to their smartphone, is a start-up company in the building. King said the Innovation Hub offers several benefits for people starting their own business, such as cheap office space, access to mentors and a community of like-minded individuals.

King said the expansion shows the growth of entrepreneurial spirit in Gainesville.

“I hope that this helps encourage more people in Gainesville, especially recent grads from UF, to want to start companies and develop new products and technologies,” King said.

Matthew Donovan’s company, txtsignal, a text marketing and mass communication platform, is also housed in the Innovation Hub. Donovan said the expansion is great for companies who are ready to grow but are not ready to occupy commercial space.

“It gives us an opportunity to grow into a different type of office space but still have access to the mentors and to the resources that the Hub provides,” Donovan said.

Donovan said he looks forward to a collaborative environment with more companies in the expanded Innovation Hub.

“It’s been a really interesting process to watch,” Donovan said. “To see it go from parking lot to now a nearly completed building, it’s neat to be a part of a growing history.”