PHILADELPHIA--(November 30, 2017) – The University City Science Center, CIC and Venture Café announced further details about their partnership to catalyze and accelerate innovation and entrepreneurship in Greater Philadelphia on Wednesday, November 29, 2017 at a reception at uCity Square.
When 3675 Market Street opens in 2018, it will be the new home for the Science Center’s headquarters, an expanded Quorum and FirstHand Lab – and the first Philadelphia location for anchor tenant CIC, a globally recognized company that combines world-class office and lab facilities with intense, productive innovation communities.
CIC will manage the shared lab and office facilities in the new building. The Science Center will amplify its current technology commercialization and business acceleration programming, as well as develop new opportunities to support the science and tech communities of Greater Philadelphia.
“Throughout our history, we’ve built a place dedicated to innovation, pioneered the concept of business incubation, and supported companies as they’ve moved technologies from the lab to the marketplace,” says Science Center President & CEO Stephen S. Tang, Ph.D., MBA. “Now, we’re taking business incubation to the next level as we shift our focus away from operating physical spaces for startups and reinvest our efforts into the people and ideas that make up those companies - the innovators and innovations who are changing our collective future.”
“We've been working toward establishing CIC Philly for several years and thanks to the partnership and guidance of Steve Tang and the Science Center, it's a thrill to see it all coming together” says CIC Managing Director, Dougan Sherwood. “The Philly innovation community is something very special and we feel fortunate to be a part of it. Thanks to Wexford and Ventas, our real estate partners, 3675 Market Street is set to be a world-class facility. We can't wait for 2018!”
The Science Center will also strengthen and enhance the offerings of its Quorum program by joining the Venture Café Network, a global network founded by CIC, with partner organizations in Boston/Cambridge, Massachusetts; St. Louis, Missouri; Miami, Florida; Winston-Salem, N.C., and Rotterdam, Netherlands. The Science Center and Venture Café will offer Venture Café @ Quorum programming every Thursday beginning in Fall 2018, giving the Greater Philadelphia region’s innovation ecosystem an additional opportunity to convene, connect and spark new ideas. Venture Café membership will give the Science Center and its constituents access to Venture Café’s global network of entrepreneurs and resources. CIC clients will be invited to participate in Quorum and Venture Cafe programs -- all making for a more vibrant ecosystem in uCity Square.
“It is a great time to play an active role in building the Philadelphia innovation community. More importantly, making sure Philadelphia startups have access to a global network will accelerate innovation and economic growth,” said Travis Sheridan, president of the CIC Venture Cafe Global Institute. “We believe innovation is a process to improve the human condition and solve some of the world’s biggest challenges. Facilitating a weekly opportunity for hundreds of smart people to connect, learn and serendipitously collide will strengthen the Philadelphia community.”
“Combining CIC's successful model of highly-serviced shared office and lab spaces with the dynamic programming and resources of the Science Center and Venture Café at 3675 Market will create a strategic anchor within Philadelphia’s innovation ecosystem. We are excited to host all three organizations under one roof and look forward to watching this partnership grow,” says Jim Berens, President & CEO of Wexford.
3675 Market Street is a 14-story, 345,000 square foot lab/office building and the latest development project at uCity Square. The building, which is being developed by Wexford, Ventas, Inc. (NYSE: VTR), a leading S&P 500 real estate investment trust, and the Science Center, is scheduled to deliver in 3Q 2018. 3675 builds upon Wexford’s experience in developing knowledge communities by combining the strengths of the Science Center, CIC and Venture Café under one roof. 3675 is currently 50% pre-leasing with approximately 150,000 square feet of available space.
About the Science Center
Located in the heart of uCity Square, the Science Center is a mission-driven nonprofit organization that catalyzes and connects innovation to entrepreneurship and technology commercialization. For 50+ years, the Science Center has supported startups, research, and economic development in the life sciences, healthcare, physical sciences, and emerging technology sectors. As a result, graduate firms and current residents of the Science Center’s incubator support one out of every 100 jobs in the Greater Philadelphia region and drive $13 billion in economic activity in the region annually. By providing resources and programming for any stage of a business’s lifecycle, the Science Center helps scientists, entrepreneurs and innovators take their concepts from idea to IPO – and beyond.
For more information about the Science Center, go to www.sciencecenter.org
About CIC
CIC’s mission is to change the world through innovation by developing ecosystems that allow exceptional entrepreneurs to create new products and companies better and faster. Founded in 1999 in Cambridge, Massachusetts’ Kendall Square and today the largest cluster of startups in the world, CIC houses 1,300 companies in 500,000 square feet of premium office and coworking space across seven facilities worldwide. CIC companies come from a wide variety of industries, and while its community is composed primarily of startups, it also includes larger companies, capital providers and service providers.
About Venture Café Global Institute
Venture Café is a fast-growing, global network of independent organizations with a shared global mission: connecting innovators to make things happen. Venture Café is a building a global movement to create stronger and more inclusive innovation ecosystems and accelerate and enhance the innovation process, in cities around the world. The Venture Café Global Institute (VCGI) is a public benefit corporation, operating as a nonprofit and is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC). VCGI also operates the Captains of Innovation program, our corporate-startup connections program. More information can be found at venturecafeglobal.org.
About Wexford Science & Technology
Wexford Science + Technology is a real estate company exclusively focused on partnering with universities, academic medical centers and research companies to develop vibrant, mixed-use communities. Wexford’s communities are built on a foundation of discovery, innovation and entrepreneurial activity that creates visible outcomes in the form of substantial economic growth, new and diverse jobs and community transformation. Wexford targets strategic opportunities with top-tier research universities that are directly on or contiguous to dense, urban campuses. Presently Wexford has developed twelve Knowledge Communities across the United States. For more information about Wexford, visit www.wexfordscitech.com.
About Ventas
Ventas, Inc., an S&P 500 company, is a leading real estate investment trust. Its diverse portfolio of more than 1,200 assets in the United States, Canada and the United Kingdom consists of seniors housing communities, medical office buildings, life science and innovation centers, inpatient rehabilitation and long-term acute care facilities, health systems and skilled nursing facilities. Through its Lillibridge subsidiary, Ventas provides management, leasing, marketing, facility development and advisory services to highly rated hospitals and health systems throughout the United States. References to “Ventas” or the “Company” mean Ventas, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries unless otherwise expressly noted. More information about Ventas and Lillibridge can be found at www.ventasreit.com and www.lillibridge.com.
