Rhode Island makers, rejoice: An economic organization targeted toward technology and advanced materials innovators is getting to work on a new, 17,000-sq.-ft. facility in Portsmouth. It's called 401 Tech Bridge, and it aims to be a "superconnector," bridging the gaps among tech startups, materials companies and government organizations.
Last month, 401 Tech Bridge launched with $6 million in outside funding, including a $2.3 million implementation grant from the U.S. Economic Development Administration (EDA). The other $3.7 million came from the National Institute of Standards and Technology’s Manufacturing Extension Partnership, the Office of Naval Research, the Rhode Island Innovation Campus, Rhode Island Commerce, the Rhode Island Foundation and the van Beuren Charitable Foundation.
The EDA grant will be used to establish the facility, which 401 Tech Bridge plans to open in the first half of 2021.
"We plan to harness technology that was coming out of the universities in the region and also work with them to further their own technology," said 401 Tech Bridge director Mary Johnson. "We have a key focus on advanced materials, so composites and textiles and related technology, because those are areas of growth here in the state."
401 Tech Bridge got its start several years ago when Polaris MEP and Rhode Island Commerce teamed up to perform a feasibility study on makerspaces in Rhode Island. The two organizations quickly realized that more makerspaces wasn't exactly what the Ocean State needed, but there was another opportunity: Small businesses, particularly in the manufacturing space, needed more ways to connect with each other.
Polaris MEP, which is a manufacturing-focused consulting organization that exists under the umbrella of the University of Rhode Island (URI) Ventures, tapped into URI's network and got to work. Christian Cowan, Polaris MEP's center director, organized a group of people who were interested in the idea and began moving forward. Partnerships were created. Funds were raised. A team was formed.
This year, those plans came to fruition. When it launched, 401 Tech Bridge became the first site to partner with the Office of Naval Research’s Naval X Tech Bridge initiative, the idea being to expand collaboration and innovation among the Navy, academia and regional companies. 401 Tech Bridge is also working with MassChallenge on its new bluetech program, and when it can (eventually) host in-person events, some of those will be in collaboration with startup-focused organizations like Venture Café and the Cambridge Innovation Center.
"We're really trying to connect to leverage relationships we already had, develop new ones and, with the space, have a place where we can bring people together," Johnson said.
As for the facility itself, 401 Tech Bridge envisions a massive space that includes lab space, a convertible open meeting space, offices and a collaborative space for industry, government and academia to work with partners on design, modeling, testing and digital verification. The space will play host to demo days and industry events. 401 Tech Bridge is taking some of those online in the meantime, hoping to connect young startups with industry leaders and vice versa to get some interdisciplinary collaboration going.
Johnson points to one example where that collaboration has already begun: 401 Tech Bridge connected Flux Marine, a startup that develops zero-emissions electric outboard boat motors and one of the winners of this year's Rhode Island Business Competition, with the IYRS School of Technology and Trades. It's a mutually beneficial relationship. Flux Marine was essentially kicked out of its Boston coworking space due to coronavirus, so IYRS gives its team a place to work; the two are now collaborating to build a new version of Flux Marine's electric motor.
"As startups grow, we can help connect them both with the prototyping space that we'll have," Johnson said. "As they get to that point where they need to do small-batch manufacturing or find contract manufacturers, we can work with Polaris MEP to help make those connections and develop those quality systems and all those things you need when you start to actually make a product. It's exciting to work with companies all along the spectrum."
Curious about what 401 Tech Bridge's Portsmouth facility will look like? The team provided us with a few renderings.
