Harold Strong, Executive Director, STAR Park
All innovation and entrepreneurial efforts require a solid base of mentors, industry partners, investors, and experts to guide them through the different stages of a growing company. In Central Texas, STAR Park is the go-to hub for innovators supporting industries such as life science, advanced materials, defense, and more. In an interview with Invest:, Harold Strong, executive director of STAR Park, highlighted the accelerator’s efforts to help companies fulfill their entrepreneurial visions.
What recent trends have had the most impact on the Science, Technology and Advanced Research (STAR) Park?
STAR Park is in the division of research at Texas State University. The university is actively engaged in pursuing R1, which is the Carnegie designation for Research One universities. It has been quite the ride as we try to increase the research expenditures and the associated relationships as we go forward. We are active in deepening our relationship with industries as well as assisting in the commercialization of research and some of the intellectual property into the market to grow jobs and create new companies. Within STAR Park, our growth and achievement have been with new companies that we currently have as tenants. They fall in the material space — expanding EV batteries, for example, by using different materials rather than lithium to power the batteries, such as potassium. We are looking at ways of printing 3D batteries for more residential, retail, and bespoke uses. Similarly, we are using unique techniques in defense-type technologies that will be effective against drones, for example.
The other piece is how to best introduce innovation to students in a more effective way, regardless of the industry. As industries change and evaluate ways of becoming more profitable but better at product development, they need entrepreneurial skills to be effective at this.
What makes San Antonio a unique environment for startups and innovation?
A lot of it starts with the universities and colleges that are located in Central Texas. We are doing a lot of diverse research, and we have a tremendous number of students who are coming to the region and attending the schools here. Texas State University, for example, is seeing 8,000 to 9,000 freshmen entering each year, which means we have one of the largest freshmen classes of any university in the state of Texas. They are coming here for a reason, including the lifestyle, the opportunities, and the industries that are present in the market. Many of the universities support the research and activities of these companies. The students end up loving the region and stay as a result.
Among the challenges that we face is making sure that we have a sustainable ecosystem and that it is effective enough to provide the needed workforce, as well as provide the investment and facilities to support companies as they grow and scale and attract further opportunities for growth.
What makes STAR Park different from similar incubators?
STAR Park is unique because it is one of the few full-service accelerators in the region. Other accelerator incubators offer co-shared space and similar resources, but in terms of having labs and related equipment, we are one of the few accelerators in the region that offer that service. I expect in the future there will be more accelerators that will differentiate between life sciences, materials, and other industry focus areas.
Our strength comes from the collaboration and partnerships that we have in the region. We have close relationships with different companies and other colleges, and we are always evaluating new relationships with other institutions. We are excited about those collaborations and partnerships because we cannot do it by ourselves. It is a collaborative function to be able to support and provide services at different stages for the companies that we work with.
What industry shifts or growing sectors have you identified?
Some interesting industries are growing. Space aviation defense is one of those areas. Life science is another one. Life science is currently focused on therapeutics, diagnostics, and medical devices. For our region, IT is a major contributor, so being able to bring diverse industries and put a layer of IT on top of that adds a lot of value. Skills such as coding are critical for more advanced technologies, but now that AI allows for artificial coding, it allows the younger innovators to use technologies independently without building a major team to do some things. We are seeing many individual entrepreneurs bringing in some cool and advanced technologies.
In what other ways are you supporting the companies that you work with?
In terms of funding, the beauty of working with universities is our ability to pursue non-dilutive funding both from NGOs and the government. There is a host of choices available depending on the area of focus. We continue to support our startups with those funding connections and other types of available grants that will help them reach their next stage of development. We want to protect companies against the valley of death. We want to make sure that the companies are mature enough to present them and introduce them to private investors. There are still a host of investors that are focused on specific industry areas to meet specific applications. If we look at commercialization from the traditional sense, we help align companies with industry partners who can assist in defining their market and possibly assist them with financing as well.
How do you advise companies in an unpredictable economy?
The fundamentals are always the same. You need to make sure that you understand the unmet needs of the market that you are addressing, and you need to be able to demonstrate in no uncertain terms the value of the particular product. There are areas, such as software or IT, that are an easier sell, though the competition may be a bit more substantial. If there are aspects that require a global partnership, that may take a bit of know-how, you may have to pivot as it relates to getting your feeder source or beginning materials. But it all revolves around the idea of fundamentals. What is the unmet need? How are you different from the competition? Are you recognizing the market, or are you chasing tumbleweeds? We coach companies to be clear and attentive to what the market is saying and respond accordingly. All answers do not have to be yes. Sometimes a quick no is better than a long yes. Sometimes it depends on where you fit and how prepared you are.
What are the top priorities for STAR Park in the near term?
We want to focus on specific industry clusters to make sure that we have aligned partnerships and collaborations. We also want to get more engaged with aviation, space, and defense. Many of those areas complement each other, so it would be an expansion of resources, partners, and mentors. With this growth, we will have to consider adding additional accelerator space and graduation space to support companies collocated at Texas State University. We also want to partner with communities that are interested in creating an ecosystem of entrepreneurship that will provide some evergreen opportunities for growth in their communities.
