Citing lack of funding, Hopkinton incubator to close

PHOTO/LAURA FINALDI The four-year run at the soon-to-be vacant TechSandBox office will come to an end in a week, after it successfully graduated companies like Content Raven, a Framingham provider of secure digital content management tools.

Barb Finer, CEO, TechSandBox

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By Laura Finaldi

The end of the month will mark the end of the road for TechSandBox, the Hopkinton business incubator founded at Becker College four years ago.

The incubator announced its planned July 31 closing late last month, chalking up its decision to a lack of sustainable funding and to low interest from large companies in the MetroWest region.

Although incubator and accelerator spaces have become trendy over the past few years, support has been largely concentrated in major metropolitan areas like Boston and Cambridge, leaving smaller, regional incubators like TechSandBox to fall by the wayside, said board member Michael Miller.

Cities and towns tend to be provincial about regional assets, rather than part of their own town, as most communities say they want their own incubator space, said Miller.

Needing the money

Since it opened at the Becker facility in Southborough four years ago, TechSandBox has helped create more than 50 companies. It moved to Hopkinton with support from firms like AAFCPAs, Morse Barnes-Brown Pendleton, Bowditch & Dewey and Southfield Properties III, and grant funds from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, MassDevelopment and Mass. Technology Collaborative.

“Time will tell if this was as big a missed opportunity for MetroWest stakeholders to step up to the plate as we think it is,” TechSandBox CEO Barbara Finer said.

Running an incubator is a challenge, said Joseph Bush, executive director of the Worcester Clean Tech Incubator, which opened 18 months ago in the Printers Building on Portland Street. It's difficult to run any business that's not selling a physical commodity, he said.

“We're offering a great value, but our primary customer [the startup] doesn't have any funds,” said Bush. “Over time, as we begin to drive deal flow to partners, this is where we can start to go to them and say, 'Hey would you care to support us?'”

WCTI gets its support from the Mass. Clean Energy Center, as well as National Grid and the owners of the Printers Building. It's adding an electronics shop at the request of a local company donating materials.

Developing relationships

Central Massachusetts does have the advantage of being closer to where many people live, said Bush, and potential investors have been very receptive to coming out to Worcester for meeting. The challenge is creating relationships with investors to show them how the incubator can help them achieve their long-term strategic goals.

“The real value and long-term sustainability of the innovative ecosystem comes from building those relationships,” he said.

After it closes, TechSandBox said it will distribute its $75,000 in equipment and physical furnishings to other incubators and nonprofits.