Unstuck Labs, an accelerator focused on minority- and women-led startups, has moved into a new and larger space at the Rosslyn City Center and struck up a slew of new partnerships in a bid to speed the growth of Arlington startups.
The 6-year-old accelerator, which was previously housed in co-working space a couple of blocks away, is teaming with its landlord, American Real Estate Partners, along with the Rosslyn Business Improvement District and Arlington Economic Development to help nurture cohorts of startups that, they hope, will go on to become larger employers in a county where office vacancy rates at record highs.
Unstuck Labs is at the center of the partnership. Its role is to choose six to 12 companies to participate in each 12-week cohort and get them to the point where they are ready to pitch their products or services to investors.
American Real Estate Partners is renting out 4,000 square feet to Unstuck Labs. Arlington Economic Development is providing funds for startups involved with the accelerator through initiatives like Arlington Innovation Fund, while the Rosslyn BID is providing a pipeline to local startup resources like business mentors and networking with local business leaders.
Office vacancy rates in Arlington are hovering near 20% and there was about 64 million square feet of empty office space in Arlington County at the end of 2022, according to data from Metropolitan Washington Council of Governments. It’s figures like this that unite both economic development agencies, real estate conglomerates and startup incubators to attract businesses to the area.
“We've heard a lot of folks say that there just isn't this sort of tech community support system anywhere, particularly after the pandemic,” said Mary-Claire Burick, president of Rosslyn BID.
