Illinois Officials to Launch ‘Bio-Hub’ in Chicago

Illinois is investing approximately $4 million for a new Chicago center designed to help start medical technology companies.

It will be called MATTER and modeled after 1871, a hub for digital startups state officials say created about 800 jobs in the first year. The idea for the medical hub is to bring together entrepreneurs and prospective investors to grow new companies.

The public-private project will get a $2.5 million grant and a $1.5 million loan, both administered through the Illinois Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity. The center was mentioned in Gov. Pat Quinn’s State of the State address as a way he proposed to create jobs in Illinois, which has one of the highest unemployment rates nationwide.

“We are committed to taking our medical technology industry to the next level,” Quinn said in a statement.

The center will open later this year and be run by a nonprofit group. Business executives, including Paragon Pharmaceuticals CEO Jeffrey Aronin, will sit on the board. Aronin said in a statement that hundreds of entrepreneurs and university and industry leaders have volunteered time to help plan the center.

The approximately 25,000-square-foot facility, to be located near 1871 in Chicago’s Merchandise Mart, will offer office space for startups and classes and other events for entrepreneurs and industry professionals.

Named after the period of intensive rebuilding during the year of the Great Chicago Fire, 1871 is home to more than 200 startups and is operated by the nonprofit Chicagoland Entrepreneurial Center. Earlier this month, 1871 CEO Howard A. Tullman revealed he is working to expand the tech incubator’s space at the Merchandise Mart by 50 percent, adding 25,000 square feet, to accommodate more young digital companies, incubators and offices for out-of-town venture capitalists.

“The original plans for 1871 contemplated that there would be some adjacent expansion space,” Tullman said.

1871 also has created a new incubator for female-led startups called FEMtech. The initiative is being funded in part by Google.

“For a whole host of reasons, 1871 believes Chicago is the best place in the country for female entrepreneurs to start a business,” 1871 said in a statement on its website. “So with that in mind, we’re announcing 1871 FEMtech, a cutting-edge incubator program to support the best women-founded businesses from across the nation and around the globe.”

1871 FEMtech will feature between ten and fifteen women-owned technology businesses, that will be co-located and engage in programming, mentorship, and training that’s specifically designed to maximize their resources and opportunities for success. The companies that make up the incubator will be drawn not just from 1871 and Chicago, but from around the United States and the world.

“Women-owned technology businesses have grown in number and reach in recent years, and we are hopeful to see more of these exciting companies doing great things as a result of our new incubator,” Tullman said. “What we have found at 1871 is that if we embrace specific verticals and natural areas of growth, we can help our companies achieve much more than they might have on their own. Critical mass creates an environment of support, shared experiences and cross-pollination that significantly accelerates the development of powerful ideas.”