Writer: Joshua Andino
2 min read July 2023— Innovation Works Inc. is moving its three startup accelerators to a new permanent location.
The North Side investment firm launched six accelerator programs last June, with three of them running out of a temporary space in East Liberty’s Broad Street. IW’s Robotics Factory, AlphaLab Gear and AlphaLab will be moving into an 18,000-square-foot space within the Regional Industrial Development Corporation (RIDC) of Southwestern Pennsylvania’s Tech Forge facility in Lawrenceville. The space once belonged to the now-defunct startup Locomotion.
“Pittsburgh’s transformation from an industrial powerhouse to a 21st century technology hub is a testament to the region’s incredible talent, world renowned research institutions and a robust entrepreneurial ecosystem,” Innovation Works President and CEO Ven Raju said in a press release. “Over the course of the last four decades, the region’s robotics cluster has been at the forefront of this transformation.”
The company and its programs will now be in close proximity to Robotics Row, the name given to the cluster of robotics and automation companies that Pittsburgh has nurtured and developed over the years, particularly along the city’s Strip District.
RIDC president Donald Smith explained in a statement to Pittsburgh Business Times, “We think in some ways the IW accelerators are the perfect tenant,” adding, “They’re robotics- and automation-oriented and there’ll be all these startup companies in this space who then could be potential growth engines for the region’s economy.”
The Tech Forge facility has a number of amenities that make it conducive to the IW’s work, with heavy industrial high-bay facilities, high efficiency flexible space and proximity to other companies in the sector and Pittsburgh International Airport. The Robotics Factory will be the first to move into the space, with the lease effective Aug. 1, with Raju stating, “The Lawrenceville site best aligns with the overarching strategic goals of the Build Back Better regional challenge grant while meeting functional, operational and budgetary requirements.”
Helping fund this work is a $63 million Build Back Better Regional Challenge grant awarded by the U.S. Economic Development Organization to the Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Collaborative.
Stefani Pashman, CEO of the Allegheny Conference on Community Development and co-chair of the Southwestern Pennsylvania New Economy Collaborative, who was also quoted in the release, said, “In less than a year since receiving this historic funding award, we’re making an impact. With its first cohort recently launched, the Robotics Factory has come to life. If you want to shape the future with robotics and autonomy, you need to be in Pittsburgh.”
Image via RIDC.org
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