Innovation Centers: engines of growth by San Francisco Business Times

The Den – Danville

580 Executive Center – Dublin

Launching Pad – San Ramon

Tri-Valley Ventures – Pleasanton

BRIIA – San Ramon

i-GATE/The Switch – Livermore

If the Tri-Valley business community is known for one thing, it’s the innovation economy.

Entrepreneurship from the labs and outside the region is pulled in by an ecosystem of incubators, accelerators and venture capital that drives the engine of growth that has propelled the Tri-Valley.

These centers of innovation and support are some of the most important pieces of that engine, assisting the many startups in the region.

The 580 Executive Center combines fully furnished offices with coworking space, virtual offices and conference rooms to create one of the region’s premier office spaces.

The Launching Pad, also known as the New Silicon Valley Offshore Incubator, is the Bay Area arm of the non-profit Silicon Valley Global.

The incubator offers basic legal services, CEO coaching and other services, in addition to providing office space and access to venture capital.

Tri-Valley Ventures is a fund focused entirely on growing the region.

Since then they’ve been funding promising companies in the Tri-Valley, bringing a significant source of funds to the innovation economy.

Incubators and accelerators driving innovation BRIIA is an AI accelerator that empowers companies to positively change the world.

BRIIA’S 13 step sprint program is attracting entrepreneurs from many other regions, according to Executive Director Les Schmidt.

“The Tri-Valley is as much an attractive magnet for outside the Tri-Valley as it is to things that happen in the Valley,” he says.

The Switch is one of the Tri-Valley’s most successful incubators, and Executive Director Brandon Cardwell confirms this is a busy time.

They’ve been supporting startups in a variety of industries since 2010, and their latest contribution to the region is Switch Labs, a hardware and life sciences branch of the incubator that’s allowing new companies to develop groundbreaking innovations and products.

The Switch partnered with a number of local life sciences entrepreneurs to design and build the industrial lab space that is Switch Labs, providing prototyping and experimentation resources that more traditional incubators and accelerators generally do not offer.

The incubator’s new Life Sciences area now has seven companies under its umbrella, with more looking to enter into the space.