Entrepreneurship
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The St. Louis area is fertile ground for entrepreneurs and small businesses and is becoming more so all the time. Recent progress in assisting startup companies, coupled with nearly $1 billion in venture capital already invested in technology firms here since 2000, is establishing St. Louis as the center of innovation in the Midwest.
St. Louis is a leader in the establishment of business incubators with more than ten at last count. Some of the incubators include:
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BioGenerator: BioGenerator identifies promising technologies and services, and works with the researcher or entrepreneur to build a successful and sustainable company. BioGenerator provides assistance, possibly with pre-seed or seed funding, at the early stages of new company formation, with continued support to milestones of follow-on funding or sustainable revenue via their Seed Fund, Spark Fund, i6 Project and Accelerator Labs.
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The Center for Emerging Technologies: The Center for Emerging Technologies targets medical and technology-based companies. It was named as one of the top 10 incubators in the country by the National Business Incubation Association.
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The Bio-Research & Development Park (BRDG): Opened in 2009, BRDG Park offers emerging scientific enterprises just the right combination – interactions between top scientists and access to state-of-the-art core facilities such as technologically advanced greenhouses, growth chambers, microscopy, proteomics, and tissue transformation facilities, as well as other vital resources.
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IT Enterprises: IT Enterprises at the University of Missouri-St. Louis supports innovation in wide-variety high-growth fields such as IT and life sciences, while providing the physical, mentoring, business development and computational resources required for startup companies to grow.
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Helix Center Biotech Incubator: The Helix Center Biotech Incubator is a small business incubator that supports the growth of startup companies in the plant and life science industry by providing affordable office and laboratory space, access to expertise and a strong family of facilities with nearby Donald Danforth Plant Science Center and BRDG Park.
- River’s Edge Enterprise Center: The River's Edge Enterprise Center is the only small business incubator in southwestern Illinois. Located in Granite City, this incubator provides office space for numerous small companies and startup businesses, in addition to business counseling services, networking opportunities, conference rooms, and other office amenities. The Enterprise Center is operated by the Tri-City Regional Port District and the Southwestern Illinois Entrepreneurship Center, and it currently houses 13 office and three industrial startup companies on the property.
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St. Charles County Small Business Center: Home-based businesses and new start-up companies who move into the EDC incubator benefit from shared office services, staff resources, access to conference rooms and specialized training programs. Since 2000, more than 100 companies have graduated into the marketplace from the EDC business incubator and created more than 400 jobs in the process.
The area is also rapidly establishing a vibrant venture capital environment. Venture capital investments in St. Louis more than doubled in 2010, reaching $39 million on 11 deals. That's up from $18.1 million on nine deals in the St. Louis area in 2009. The growth in St. Louis venture capital investing exceeded the national average. Nationally, venture capitalists increased their 2010 investments 19 percent over 2009 to $21.8 billion, according to MoneyTree. The rise in venture investments nationally was the first since 2007, and the increase was spread across almost every industry and every stage of development.
The State of Missouri is availing $27 million dollars to state entrepreneurs. The Missouri Innovation, Development, and Entrepreneurship Advancement (IDEA) Funds promote the formation and growth of businesses that engage in the transfer of science and technology into job creation.
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