SpringBox Labs: The Place Where Startups Succeed
There’s a buzz in the halls of SpringBox Labs.
It’s the sound of brainstorming and mentoring, of deals coming together and coming apart, of entrepreneurs and venture advisors matching business plan milestones to capital needs.
It’s the sound of entrepreneurs building great companies.
And in 2013, the buzz grew especially strong as ten firms graduated from SpringBox Labs.
Among those recent graduates, are companies that read like a Who’s Who of startup progress and success.
- Jifiti’s free mobile gift application lets shoppers scan merchandise in a store and turn it into a gift card to give others. Jifiti was recognized by PC Magazine at #5 as one of the top ten companies that will change the way people shop.
- Minimally Invasive Devices (MID) develops innovative surgical devices that provide clear vision during laparoscopic surgery. More than 10,000 cases have been performed using the FloShield® device, which is FDA-approved and in use at 40 hospitals. MID manufactures in Franklin County and has created 28 jobs.
- nChannel, a software company for B2B logistics and inventory management, added over twenty jobs in 2013. nChannel received seed funding from TechColumbus in 2011 and strong revenue growth attracted Series A investment led by The Ohio TechAngels Fund (OTAF). nChannel, an accelerator client since 2011, recently moved into our graduation space to accommodate its current growth.
- PlugSmart, an energy services company that helps businesses and utility companies implement a broad range of technology and energy solutions, was named to the 2013 INC 500 | 5000 list of the fastest growing private companies in America (290th).
- Traycer is developing terahertz wave imaging and automation systems for industrial non-destructive test and measurement applications. Traycer successfully closed a $2.75MM first tranche of a $5MM Series A financing with San Francisco based Phoenix Venture Partners. The new capital will allow Traycer to complete product development for its first commercial applications.
The really great thing about SpringBox Labs is that this accelerator goes well beyond great deals on office services and space.
For TechColumbus engaged clients at every stage of development, SpringBox delivers a scope of entrepreneur-focused services.
Reduced operating costs typically draw early stage companies to business incubators; but residents at SpringBox Labs gain much more than rental space.
Our relationship with entrepreneurs begins with their ideas: assisting them in constructing viable business and financial models and business plans, and then potentially funding them. There aren’t many incubators or accelerators doing all that.
Sure, we provide a long list of amenities like high speed Internet, custom phone service, a business address, fax, fridge—even a ping pong table.
But where else can startups find options such as fully equipped wet laboratories, including an autoclave and sterilizer, or high bay manufacturing areas?
We also have seventeen on-site TechColumbus venture experts with open doors.
This team provides venture acceleration services, helps client companies find early adopters and customers, and provides access to a continuum of capital that most other accelerators can only dream about. We truly are there to help.
Another benefit at SpringBox Labs is daily connections to the Central Ohio entrepreneurial, corporate, and academic communities.
Our accelerator has always been a meeting place for technology in Columbus.
We get traffic from numerous, influential venture-related organizations. X Squared Angels, Startup Weekend, Ohio TechAngel Fund, and others hold office hours here regularly; we’re the host location for Startup Grind.
SpringBox Labs creates the day-by-day relationships and opportunities that startups need and want to be part of—and the environment where companies succeed.
For more information, please contact Ron Landthorn or Teresa Cline.
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How SpringBox Labs got its name
Our building began its life as a Simmons Mattress Factory. Ever since John Franklin Gail, Simmons’ top engineer, designed a machine that would coil wire and insert it into fabric sleeves, kids have been bouncing on their beds. You remember the feeling—acceleration and breaking loose, full of possibilities, with a little bit of push-back in every bounce—on the rules, on the status quo, on the way things were supposed to be. That’s the feeling of entrepreneurship—and that bounce is what SpringBox Labs is all about.
