FAU EXPANDS INCUBATOR TO HATCH MORE TECH FIRMS

The technology business incubator at the Florida Atlantic University Research & Development Park has expanded by another 3,000 square feet.

That might not seem like much, but it's enough for six new companies to squeeze into offices there, the largest number since FAU's incubator opened in the late 1990s. It now occupies 11,000 square feet and houses 16 companies, most of which are high-tech or Internet firms.

Each company starts with only an office or two. But being part of the incubator can be an invaluable experience for an entrepreneur propping up an infant company on a shoestring budget with few employees.

Just ask Navroze Mehta.

Mehta was a one-man show with NovaVision when he came into the incubator in 2003. Now his vision therapy company occupies separate offices in the research park, employs 35 people and just received $20 million in venture capital from a group of investors including pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson.

In the incubator, he fleshed out his business plan, bounced ideas off other entrepreneurs and got help to meet venture capital investors.

"It's important to be in that kind of ecosystem," Mehta said.

The incubator is run by Jane Teague, who heads the Enterprise Development Corp. of South Florida. She introduced Mehta to one of his first investors, Ravi Ugale of Crossbow Ventures in West Palm Beach.

In the incubator, tenant companies are allowed to pay rent on a month-to-month basis; that is, they sign no long-term lease. They are in close proximity to the university and its resources. And they share office equipment, a conference room, a lunch area and the free advice of Teague, a former marketing director, and research park Executive Director and IBM alumnus Scott Ellington.

"Nobody pays us in the incubator for what we do," Teague said.

Doris Blake, chief executive of U.S. Spine, used the incubator in 2004 as a springboard for work at the university's cadaver laboratory. The company needed access to cadavers to study how the company's spinal replacement parts fit into the anatomy.

Blake was able to hire graduates whom she met through the university, and she even found a temporary finance officer through Teague's connections.

"We got exposure to a lot of resources," Blake said.

Most of the companies stay no longer than two years. Twelve firms have graduated to their own offices; four have failed, Teague said.

They often move directly into the FAU research park, which helps Ellington fulfill his obligation to the university.

"Our mission is to develop high-tech, high-wage jobs through research," he said.

One of the newest tenants is iTrackr, which is developing technology to help consumers track retail products via the Internet.

Chief Executive John Rizzo already had received investment capital. But he needed an introduction to a large retail store executive and connections to computer programmers. He got the first through Teague and the second through FAU.

"When you're on your own in business, you want as many resources available to you as possible," Rizzo said.

If he makes a couple of deals with retail stores, Rizzo might be moving out quickly, he said.

That's all right with Teague. Someone else will be move in quickly to take his place.

"Companies find us on the Internet. They search under 'incubator' and find us. We're the only incubator here," she said.

- stephen_pounds@pbpost.com

Six more join FAU incubator

There are six new tenants at the Florida Atlantic University Technology Business Incubator:

C.R. Technologies and Odyssey Voice Inc. - A developer of virtual phone systems for small- to medium-sized businesses.

iTrackr Inc. - A company designing technology to help consumers track retail products via the Internet.

Kadoo Inc. - A start-up firm aiming to optimize the use of socialnetworking sites.

EvoLux Transportation LLC - An airtaxi company.

highconversion - A software company aimed at converting Web traffic into customer bookings.

T-VEC Technologies - A softwarediagnostics firm.