TechFW to share downtown space with Texas A&M innovation group under new agreement

TechFW, the Fort Worth nonprofit that incubates and accelerates startups, will share a new downtown office with a Texas A&M-focused innovation group under a memorandum of understanding the two organizations signed recently, the Fort Worth Report reported Saturday.

TechFW's partner is the Fort Worth-Tarrant County Innovation Partnership, which links area companies to research and services offered by Texas A&M. According to the Fort Worth Report, it includes $50,000 to support two TechFW programs, ThinkLab and SmartStart, along with plans for the two groups to move into a shared office of 7,000 square feet at Water Gardens Place.

The building is in the Switchyard Innovation District, beside Texas A&M's Fort Worth campus, and the space will include co-working areas for entrepreneurs.

The programs

ThinkLab is an eight-week program in which groups of innovators work on developing ideas, and SmartStart offers coaching and business services to companies preparing to launch, the Fort Worth Report said. Beyond the money, the agreement could bring curriculum and mentoring help for both programs. No move-in date for the shared office was reported.

TechFW executive director Caitlin McMinn told the Fort Worth Report that the deal "really deepens our relationship with Texas A&M." She said TechFW's longtime base, the Guinn Entrepreneurial Campus on South Freeway, is not very visible to much of the community and that a downtown presence "will expand our reach."

Cameron Cushman, who leads the innovation partnership as executive director, told the Fort Worth Report that the agreement is "the very beginning" of a relationship his group hopes will last. He said bringing in an established incubator made more sense than building programs from scratch.

Other recent TechFW partnerships

The Fort Worth Report noted that TechFW has launched a manufacturing program in partnership with TMAC, the Texas Manufacturing Assistance Center, renewed an agreement with Texas Woman's University on an online version of ThinkLab, and formed a partnership with the biotech industry group BioNTX.

Texas A&M has also been expanding its downtown footprint. In August it opened a Law & Education Building of 228,000 square feet and is also building a 12-story Research & Innovation Building expected to be finished in 2029, according to the Fort Worth Report.

Sources

fortworthreport.org

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