McMaster has launched a new space designed to help entrepreneurs take their ventures to the next level.
Located at McMaster Innovation Park (MIP), LevelUp provides startups with the space, resources and community support they need to scale their businesses.
It offers a mix of private offices and shared workspaces that encourage connection and inspire creativity, as well as access to programming, mentorship and resources offered through the McMaster Industry Liaison Office (MILO), The Forge and Innovation Factory.
A launch pad for innovation
More than just an office space, LevelUp brings together a community of entrepreneurs navigating the challenges and milestones of startup development.
It’s currently home to six startup companies – including McMaster-affiliated Block Biosciences and Stoked Bio.
True to its name, the space is meant to be a temporary home for startups looking to level up, while remaining closely connected to McMaster’s research and innovation ecosystem.
OrganoBiotech was one of the first companies to set up shop at LevelUp.
The startup is focused on accelerating drug discovery through their advanced platform technologies, which combine state-of-the-art tissue models with generative AI to enable deeper insights into human biology.
When the company’s founder, Boyang Zhang, first heard there were spaces available at LevelUp, he jumped at the opportunity.
“We wanted to transition from our academic lab to a fully independent space where we could focus on expanding our operations,” says Zhang, an associate professor of chemical engineering at McMaster.
“LevelUp helped us make that vision a reality.”
The company moved in and immediately made the space their own. They turned their private office into a miniature lab for device manufacturing, where employees assembled product components.
Not your typical office setup, says Zhang, but it acted as the hub for the company’s product innovation and provided a dedicated R&D and prototyping space.
After spending a full year at LevelUp, OrganoBiotech is moving out and into a new space at FlexLabs, also located at MIP, equipped with the biosafety infrastructure the company needs for the next stage of their venture.
“When considering our options, we knew we wanted to stay close to McMaster. LevelUp and FlexLabs are the perfect locations for us – they provide that synergy between my academic lab at Mac and the University’s broader innovation ecosystem,” says Zhang.
Gay Yuyitung, Director of MILO, says OrganoBiotech shows how much startups benefit from having a dedicated, flexible space built into a community of entrepreneurs where they can advance their companies.
“LevelUp is really a launchpad for startups – while they’re not meant to put down roots here forever, they are encouraged to use the space and our resources to propel them to the next step on their commercialization journey.”