The Irvine Incubation Center Opens Doors to Assist Entrepreneurs

Oct. 7, 2010 - PRLog -- IRVINE, Calif., – The Irvine Chamber of Commerce, the University of California at Irvine (UCI), with the support of the City of Irvine and other community groups are announcing the Irvine Incubation Center is now open to assist entrepreneurs in growing new business ideas into the next high-growth companies in Irvine.  The Irvine Incubation Center (IIC) is located directly across from UCI and will accommodate approximately 20 start-up companies at any one time.

The leading economic development experts agree that, now more than ever, a business incubator is an essential tool to promote local development.  A study by the U.S. Economic Development Administration found that business incubators are the most effective way to create jobs and three times as effective as putting money into public works projects.    

“Our mission for the incubation center is to help foster more successful startups in Irvine and Orange County by providing resources and mentoring that allows the entrepreneur to reduce risk, increase positive outcomes, and move towards corporate sustainability,” said Jeff Greenberg, Irvine Incubator Center President and Co-Founder.  Greenberg, has been commercializing technologies from UCI and the community through Tech Coast Works, will work with the rest of the IIC team to offer startup businesses advice, access to capital and introductions to an extensive network of contacts.  

The Irvine Incubation Center will provide entrepreneurial companies with resources that are essential to companies hoping to reach the next level:

1.   Coaching – The IIC will leverage the entrepreneurial and subject matter expertise of its operations team and the local business community to provide startup companies with coaching on a wide variety of subjects.  This coaching will include the services of TriTech SBDC.
2.   Connectivity – Established networks of all the resources needed to launch and grow a company including business counseling and networking, legal, intellectual property protection, marketing and PR, human resources, accounting and bookkeeping, and business partners such as vendors and suppliers.
3.   Concierge – a valuable resource to help navigate entrepreneurs to products, services, and people needed to keep the company moving forward.
4.   Convenient Training – regularly scheduled on-site seminars and webinars to assist in rounding out the entrepreneur’s skills and knowledge with topics such as finance, legal, federal/state/county filings, sales & marketing, human resources, negotiations and other subjects of interest.
5.   Capital – Provide access and introduction to a variety of potential capital sources such as TechCoast Angels, one of the largest angel investor networks in the country, is one potential source of capital.  Entrepreneurs will have a host of counselors to direct them to venture capitalists, government grants and to the small business administration (SBA).
6.   Corporate Facilities – the incubation center provides affordable offices, conference rooms, shared services, high speed Internet, full function color copier/scanner/printer, kitchen, and a space to bring like-minded entrepreneurs together to support each other and share ideas.    

“Collecting all these resources in one place is key in providing a one-stop shop for early-stage businesses that need guidance and support.  It is our hope to increase the probability these companies will be successful and add jobs to the community,” said Christopher Lynch, Vice President Business and Economic Development for the Irvine Chamber of Commerce.  “We are making this investment into the incubation center as a way to home grow businesses in Irvine by supporting local entrepreneurs instead of relying solely on recruiting companies from afar.”

University of California, Irvine is Key Irvine Incubation Partner

“The Don Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship is proud to be a partner in the creation of the Irvine Incubation Center.  We look forward to helping the incubation center become a powerful catalyst in the creation of new ventures, products and opportunity within the City of Irvine and the wider Southern California area,” said Charles Baecker, Administrative Director, Beall Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship at UC Irvine.  Through the Beall Center, UCI students and alumni will be able to apply their passion and talent to the task of assisting young companies become successful through serving as volunteer consultants in a wide range of marketing, finance, operation and technical engineering areas.

“Preferred partners and investors are an essential part of the Irvine Incubation Center,” said Jeff Greenberg.  “It takes thousands of contributed dollars to make an incubator successful, but it also relies on the talents of dozens of volunteers to wok beside our startup companies to make the IIC successful.”  The incubation center is encouraging investors, sponsors and corporate partners to inquire about the benefits to their organization if they choose to be a preferred partner.  Investors, sponsors and corporate partners can receive additional information by e-mailing info@irvineic.org.

“The selling point for us is that we’d start getting immediate access to people who can help build our business,” said Ash Kumra, DesiYou CEO and Co-founder, whose company is a video content and distribution company primarily focused on the South Asian (Indian) culture.  “I’ve gotten connected to people I never would have dreamed of and I have learned presentations skills that will catch the attention of the investors.”

The City of Irvine has lent tremendous support in launching the Irvine Incubation Center.  The incubator will be an important tool in the Irvine economic recovery as well as a vital link between the University of California, Irvine, the investment community and the business community.  Irvine provides all the right resources for new high-growth venture creation– scientists, engineers, educators, entrepreneurs and others – by injecting both economic and cultural vitality, the Irvine Incubation Center will help Irvine continue to be a vibrant place to start a business and live.

Startup Company Application to the ICC

Those companies interested in applying to the incubation program need to e-mail info@irvineic.org for additional information.  An applying company should have a completed business plan summary prior to contacting the incubation center.  The goal of the incubation center is to assist in the development and growth of new businesses.  Therefore, the IIC monitors all clients very closely to avoid any unnecessary pitfalls.

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