It often feels like the journey from a scientific discovery to a real world, impactful innovation involves a multitude of hurdles and bottlenecks. The bio-innovators who are so often driven by curiosity and discovery to change the world, can become frustrated with the cost of labs, the need to hand over equity for a wet lab space that is too expensive, and the inability to find good, affordable labs anywhere in the Bay Area that don’t claim equity or even IP rights to their hard won discoveries and breakthroughs. We have created a different model of a biotech incubator; one that is built by founders to best support the founders. We put science and the innovators and humanity over everything else.
How We Overcome the Bottlenecks:
Every biotech company begins with an innovation, an idea, a scientific hypothesis, or an approach to a problem. However, in order to take those ideas further, there is usually the need for a wet lab in which to pursue that hypothesis. The market today, unfortunately, is flooded with a limited number of wet labs that can be found, most of which often times charge extremely high fees and have unreasonable lease terms; some of these labs also stake a claim to IP (intellectual property) rights. There are so many wet labs that exist and can be found, however most of them don’t support or help startups, many of them are not affordable, and many of them claim equity and IP rights to what are really hard won discoveries and new discoveries that need to be pushed through the pipeline.
As a bio-innovator for the last 28 years in the biotech industry, Dr. David Kiewlich found that his 18 months of trying to find a suitable wet lab for his own lab really drove him home to the reality of how he wanted to create a space that would allow founders to be able to do whatever science they wanted to do, without having to worry about the cost of labs, the ability to hand over equity for a wet lab space, the inability to find a good wet lab that supports the scientists and doesn’t require equity and/or IP rights. Dr. David Kiewlich is passionate about building out an incubator and biotech lab rental company that supports science and scientists and is built by scientists so that we can all move science forward for humanity.
We believe that the biotech incubators should be helping, not hindering innovation. In order to do so we created a company that is set up for founders to succeed, we are #1 nonprofit biotech incubator in the bay area where no one fails. We have an incubator model where science and innovators are given everything and anything they need and want so that the founders can succeed or learn, there is no fail. Here is how:
- We take NO equity in their company nor any claim to their IP.
- Our wet lab rental options in the bay area are world class (we are in alameda). Our labs have equipment like what the top lab’s in the bay area have and we offer 24/7 access and never make you wait to use equipment or for broken equipment to be repaired.
- Our wet lab rentals in alameda have great prices, flexible term plans, all support services are included in our flat fee (the minimum term in any of our labs is only 3 months, you are not forced out of our labs at a graduation date). We are a company that allows our scientists to stay for as long as they need to succeed or to learn. We do not kick our scientists out and force them to find other labs and disrupt their research. We have a 89-95% success rate in contrast to the industry average biotech startup success rate of 10%. Our member companies have raised over $900 million, thanks to a frictionless community that lifts all boats. From early-stage biotech founders to climate tech founders and researchers from marginalized communities, we work together to accelerate the pace of science.
Stories from the BADASS Ecosystem By the Numbers
Providing startups with affordable access to best-in-class shared lab space has an obvious but profound impact. Imagine an all-cell therapy company that doesn’t have to worry about their lab bills all the time, or a climate tech company that doesn’t have to waste precious time setting up advanced analytical equipment to test their sustainable biofuel. This is reality every day at BADASS Labs, and our members know it. They know they are part of something big, and that’s why they’re busy changing oncology, creating the future of AAV manufacturing, and developing new battery materials. Their work isn’t just innovative; their groundbreaking discoveries are making science better, faster, and more accessible than ever before—all because they had the freedom and the opportunity to be fearless.
FAQ’s on BADASS Labs
How is BADASS Labs different from other biotech incubators in the Bay Area? BADASS Labs is a nonprofit, mission-driven lab space. We don’t take equity. We don’t claim IP. We offer 24/7 open access to state-of-the-art wet lab spaces with flexible and all-inclusive membership options, designed entirely around your success and not around maximizing our own revenue.
Do you take equity or IP from BADASS Labs companies? No. This is at the heart of our organization and our reason for being. We believe innovators should own their companies, not the investors. We don’t want you to own anything but your IP.
Who can apply for lab space at BADASS Labs? We welcome a broad cross section of fearless bio-innovators, emerging biotech startups (early seed to Series B), and scientific rebels. We have startups creating cell therapies and gene therapies as well as companies focused on climate tech (solar energy, battery materials, carbon capture and more).
What wet lab rental equipment and facilities do you offer in Alameda? Our wet lab space provides access to a wide selection of world-class instruments for cell culture, molecular biology, analytical chemistry, and much more. All of our members have 24/7 access to our full suite of instrumentation (PCR machines, microscopes, flow cytometry, bioreactors and so much more).
What are your membership terms? We offer very flexible terms with a minimum commitment of just three months. No forced graduation dates! If your company is ready to graduate and move out into the world, you can do so. Or, if your company needs time to evolve, you can stay in our lab space and grow however you need to grow. Our flat-fee prices make budgeting simple, as are our membership options. We’ve got you covered.
Join the Rebellion. Change the World.
If you’re a fearless bio-innovator, a scientific rebel, or an emerging biotech startup that wants to leave its mark, BADASS Labs is your home. Stop fighting to find lab space. Start focusing on your work. Ready to join BADASS Labs? Book a tour of our Alameda lab space, meet our community of fearless innovators or apply for space at BADASS Labs today.