The ceremonial opening attracted several public officials to campus.
Columbia University has officially opened its new startup incubator, Columbia Startup Lab. The incubator has grown out of its Entrepreneurship Lab, which the university created in 2012.
The Startup Lab has taken over 5,100 square feet (474 square metres) at co-working space WeWork’s New York City SoHo location. The lab houses a total of 71 alumni entrepreneurs, making up more than 35 teams. Startups moved in on June 11, before the ceremonial opening on July 15, 2014.
Among the perks for the entrepreneurial graduates are the usual offerings such as desks and internet access but also free beer. Startups at the lab range from a company offering a Tinder-like app for clothes, Kwoller, to a company developing augmented-reality in-car navigation, Augary, to a startup aiming to simplify expenses management for restaurants, ChouxBox.
The ceremonial opening was attended by Columbia University president Lee Bollinger, Columbia College dean James Valentini and Columbia Engineering dean Mary Boyce. Several city and state officials such as senator Brad Hoylman also attended and lauded the initiative. No public officials were part of the discussions between Columbia and WeWork, nor did they provide any funding towards the endeavour.
Bill Campbell, co-chair of the Trustees of Columbia University, said: “Entrepreneurship at Columbia is catching fire. Our students, faculty and alumni entrepreneurs are brilliant, incredibly innovative and fully engaged in this programming. It is personally exciting and very satisfying to participate in this dynamic and robust evolutionary process at one of the finest research universities on the planet.”
