Too often, it’s been incredibly difficult for the visionary individuals who will drive major biotech breakthroughs to get to market. There are so many obstacles in the way of taking something that was dreamed up in a petri dish to being a real-world solution. It’s expensive, there are few facilities for startups to take advantage of, it’s hard to find funding, and many incubators are limited to one-year stints, forcing startups to grow rapidly and unnaturally.
There’s nothing wrong with an incubator in theory; it’s supposed to be there to foster and support innovation. The reality, though, is that for those of us with the best of intentions, starting an incubator in this field was nearly impossible. Equipment alone costs upwards of $100,000, there’s no access to labs 24/7, incubators want 10-15% equity in your company, you have to wait three weeks for equipment, and they’re usually closed 8 to 5pm, Monday to Friday. All of which makes it hard to stay alive.
That is why BADASS Labs, the number one nonprofit biotech incubator, is different. We believe that if you are building a company in this industry, you should be able to access the infrastructure you need, the 24/7 access to labs, and the support of the founders behind them without being forced to give up 10-15% of your intellectual property or 10-15% of your equity.
That’s why you get 100% of your equity and 100% of your IP when you work with BADASS Labs. We don’t make these things hard for you, because we want your company to be successful.
There’s only one price that everyone pays. It covers all the support we offer our incubation companies. We don’t have any additional charges. If we don’t offer something to one of our incubation companies, then you can rest assured it won’t be there for another.
Incubation companies have the freedom to stay at BADASS Labs for as long as they need until they have achieved success and are profitable because there is no fail state, just ‘succeed’ or ‘learn.’ We believe we are the best incubator in the world because of that.
We are inspired by our founder, Dr. David Kiewlich, who has walked in the founders shoes, and who is passionate about helping founders. Our incubation companies raise an average of $10m in funding with an 89-95% success rate across all incubation companies. The BADASS Labs community has raised in excess of $900m in funding.
We have a variety of support for those people of color, including dedicated programming and an organization called Women in BioTech to make sure everyone can take full advantage of our incubator. We also have LGBTQIA+ support and are always looking to add more programming that makes sure we have an environment that is welcoming and helpful for all types of people.
The BADASS Labs community works with companies that work on everything from oncology therapies to gene therapies to cell therapies to climate tech including biofuels, battery materials, carbon dioxide capture, sustainable bio-manufacturing and much, much more.
Everyone is working with their peers from a variety of different fields. This helps to foster innovation and to ensure that every company that works with us will be able to learn from everyone else in the community. Our community is a community that believes that scientific rebellion is the way we change humanity for the better, whether it’s with curing the deadliest cancers on the planet, or finding the solutions to the climate crisis.
If you’re ready to get started with your innovation company and want to have the freedom of working with a team that is truly invested in your success, then we’d love to see you! You can schedule your tour with our facilities in Alameda, see our community, and become part of the fearless innovator group that is BADASS Labs. You can even apply to work with our incubation companies to receive the full suite of services we offer for incubating your company.
FAQs for BADASS Labs
- What is BADASS Labs different than other incubators? We are the number one nonprofit incubator in the world. BADASS Labs doesn’t claim equity in your company, it doesn’t claim any of your intellectual property and it gives its incubation companies access to 24/7 labs with world-class infrastructure at a flat fee pricing. Incubation companies can stay in BADASS Labs until they have been successful because there is no fail state, just succeed or learn.
- Do you incubate climate tech startups? We do! Climate tech and sustainability are very important to us, because BADASS Labs believes in using science to change humanity for the better. If you are working in the field of climate tech, you are welcome to apply at BADASS Labs, including startups working in battery materials, biofuels, carbon dioxide capture, sustainable bio-manufacturing, and much more.
- What equipment and lab space do you have? We have the world class infrastructure that incubation companies need to get their work done. Our incubation companies have access to the latest BSL-2 lab space as well as the most cutting-edge laboratory equipment you can find at any university anywhere in the country.
- What about pre-seed funding and other funding stages? Our incubation companies include pre-seed companies, early-stage companies and Series A, Series B companies. We want companies to be successful in whatever stage they are in. With our flat fee pricing model, we are able to provide all the support a company needs to be successful without any additional charges.
- Why do you think inclusivity is important in biotech? That’s a fundamental part of our mission. We want BADASS Labs to make sure that everyone is supported at BADASS Labs. We are dedicated to making sure that people of color and LGBTQIA+ members are welcomed and supported.