Starting a biotech company is hard enough. Between funding and the burn rate, hitting milestones, and regulatory requirements, founder loneliness can become too much to bear. One factor that contributes to loneliness in founders is the space itself. If you can get a private lab lease, you may be physically separated from peer founders and the ad hoc collaboration and feedback loops you had in the lab.

But a new study shows the power of building and growing in an environment where you are surrounded by other founders and researchers in relevant areas. A 2023 study in Nature Biotechnology found that startups growing in collaborative ecosystems saw a 34% higher milestone achievement rate than startups that grew in relative isolation. Further, this performance advantage was due to the environment rather than superior access to talent or capital.

Mentorship and support systems are an integral part of the biotech startup journey. In an ideal startup, a company’s failures can be a strength and learning opportunity for the rest of the team. Similarly, when you build and grow in a community-oriented incubator, the failures of one can become a learning opportunity for everyone, rather than just your startup.

BADASS Labs is a nonprofit 501(c)(3) biotech incubator that takes no equity and makes no claims on tenant’s IP, and was built with community in mind. We know that the support of the broader community can be a key driver of success. As BADASS founder Dr. David Kiewlich said, “Kindness should be the key factor for everything,” and as the Six-time biotech entrepreneur knows first-hand, kindness is not always a factor in the startup world.

What Isolation Actually Costs You

Wet labs are hard to come by in the SF Bay Area. They’re expensive. They’re highly regulated. And while incubators for software startups are common, incubators for startups with wet labs are scarce. Many biotech startups choose to lease a wet lab on their own. If you do this, you’re more likely to experience loneliness as a founder.

Here’s a non-exhaustive list of things that can happen when building in a private lab and what that can mean for your startup.

1. The Knowledge Tax

The reality of a private lab space is that you may be far from similar researchers and founders. Chances are you’ve already gone well beyond the science itself. There’s so much more to running a startup. The more time you spend figuring out things like your flow cytometry panel or the transfection part of your assay, the more of your hard-earned precious runway you’ve already spent, and that could’ve been time spent on growing your startup. When you’re surrounded by others, you have access to people who’ve already solved the issue you’ve been facing for days.

2. The Equipment Learning Curve

The steep learning curve is also a factor for startups that don’t invest in training for their more complex instruments, and this is where the collaborative environment of an incubator comes into play. If you’re in a community-oriented incubator, you’ll likely have access to a pool of expertise in your space and won’t have to invest in expensive courses or hire external experts to learn how to use the mass spec, bioreactor, or cell sorter.

3. The Mental Health Toll

It’s not only science that requires constant refinement to improve, founders are a work-in-progress as well, and they burn out more easily when they feel they have to do everything themselves. When you’re surrounded by fellow entrepreneurs who’ve been down the path before you, the regulatory and operational burdens don’t feel as big.

4. The Missed Connection Cost

This is perhaps the most difficult to quantify: the value of a chance conversation. If you’re not in a shared space, you could be missing out on cross-pollination with other entrepreneurs and researchers.

Cross-Disciplinary Collision Zones

At BADASS Labs in Alameda, California, a cell therapy startup might sit next to a climate tech startup, which would sit next to a gene therapy startup. The gene therapy startup would share their SOP for AAV production with the cell therapy startup and give them a crash course on how to use the equipment. The climate tech startup might be a biofuel company that would tell the gene therapy startup what to watch out for with their process for getting a GMP facility, and their next-door neighbor might be an oncology researcher that has just gone through the IND filing process. A battery materials scientist would join them for coffee in our common area and be happy to give advice on how to build an in-house expertise.

As you can see, the potential for unplanned collisions between scientists in different fields is huge in our space, and it’s intentional. BADASS Labs is the first community-first biotech incubator. We exist to empower and support the scientist-entrepreneurs who are changing the world. Our guiding principle is “Succeed or Learn, There Is No Fail” and we believe that when value extraction is removed from the mix, a rising tide lifts all boats. We’re even building a new lab in Salt Lake City. Come tour our Space in person or apply here.

Isolation Can Be A Startup Killer. Here’s Why Community is Key in Biotech

The path to success for a biotech startup is long, difficult, and expensive. Whether you are trying to develop a new assay method, or take your first clinical trial to the finish line, your journey is likely filled with many challenges.

It’s also likely a very lonely journey.

Biotech founders and their teams are often stuck in their private, leased wet labs, struggling to survive on the edge. They may feel they are on an isolated journey where they can’t reach out and get help, ask questions, or share their experiences and learnings with others.

The reality, though, doesn’t have to be that way. The journey can be supported by a community of scientist-entrepreneurs that are going through similar challenges and working to solve them. In a community-first incubator environment, the wins are celebrated together, and the failures become learning opportunities for everyone.

The Support Infrastructure That Catches You

For many founders, they’ve been through the experience already. The burn out, the loneliness, and the stress of the operational burden.

In biotech, you are dealing with a high burn rate, expensive materials, and critical milestones. If you’re not getting the support you need, you can watch your runway shrink and your energy drain away.

There is hope, though. With the right incubator environment and a community of other founders, you will be able to build the next great company faster, and with more support.

BADASS Labs, the community-first biotech incubator, is different from the rest. We don’t compete with startups, we are here to support you. We make no IP claims and take zero equity in the startups.

The value BADASS Labs provides to startups:

• Access to a network of scientists and entrepreneurs
• Access to a shared wet lab with 24/7 equipment access at fair, flat-fee prices
• Office space within a single membership fee
• Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) compliance
• Facilities management (including equipment maintenance and cold chain logistics)
• Introductions to scientists that can provide feedback on projects
• Introductions to other entrepreneurs looking for advice or partners
• Introductions to key stakeholders, investors, collaborators, and customers
• Credibility and track record from a science institution that helps your startup succeed
• A 3 month minimum stay and no graduation date
• A 501(c)(3) that exists to promote science, and to help startups
• A culture of support, where “Succeed or Learn, There Is No Fail”

A Culture That Celebrates Wins Together

In a collaborative environment, everyone can share and learn from one another’s experiences and mistakes. In the shared labs of BADASS Labs, members learn through hallway comments, shared coffee time, and open conversations, saving time and capital to apply to critical experiments. This peer to peer feedback accelerates projects and builds the scientific community.

Whether you’ve just started your biotech startup or you’ve raised your first round of funding, you are part of an ecosystem of support from others. If you are developing cell therapies, there are companies in the incubator that have been through similar experiences. The same can be said for startups working on gene therapy, oncology, AAV manufacturing, biofuels, carbon capture, battery materials, and sustainable bio-manufacturing.

When you have questions about complex regulatory challenges, there may be other entrepreneurs in your incubator who are going through it right now. When your research produces amazing results, they may even help you share it through peer-reviewed publications. It’s all part of the process, and in this ecosystem, everyone is helping each other.

As six-time biotech entrepreneur and BADASS Labs founder, Dr. David Kiewlich says, “Kindness should be the key factor for everything,” and the ethos of the incubator has been built on that tenet. There is no value extraction or competition between startups. The value of knowledge and community is shared and expanded for everyone. The rising tide lifts all boats.

The Numbers Don’t Lie: Community Drives Success

It is estimated the success rate of a biotech startup is only 10%. In the BADASS Labs incubator, however, the success rate is 89-95%*. This is because we are helping you build the next great biotech startup faster and smarter. With our support, startups in our incubator have raised over $900 million dollars.

BADASS Labs is a 501(c)(3) that exists to promote science and help startups. We don’t compete with the startups in the incubator, we are here to support you, and we make no IP claims or take zero equity.

The Bay Area’s Biotech Community Is Waiting

In the San Francisco Bay Area, biotech founders have been able to come together in the BADASS Labs incubator to learn, grow, and celebrate success. There is also an expansion planned in Salt Lake City. Come give the facility a tour and learn about the community-first incubator that is changing biotech for the better.

Frequently Asked Questions

What makes a community-driven biotech incubator different from a traditional one?

Traditional incubators may take equity, claim IP rights, or impose graduation timelines. BADASS Labs takes zero equity, makes no IP claims, and lets companies stay as long as needed, focusing on collaboration and knowledge-sharing.

How does shared lab space benefit early-stage biotech startups?

Shared space provides access to equipment without the capital expense and lengthy process of building a private facility while creating opportunities for collaboration, shared protocols, and peer problem-solving.

Does BADASS Labs take equity or claim intellectual property?

No. BADASS Labs takes zero equity and makes no claims on member companies’ intellectual property. As a nonprofit 501(c)(3), its mission is to advance science for humanity.

What types of companies are part of the BADASS Labs community?

The community includes cell therapy, gene therapy, oncology, AAV manufacturing, biofuels, carbon capture, battery materials, and sustainable bio-manufacturing companies, creating intentional opportunities for cross-disciplinary collaboration.

Can I really access the labs 24/7?

Yes. BADASS Labs provides 24/7 unrestricted access to equipment and facilities. Science doesn’t follow a 9-to-5 schedule, and neither should your lab.