In recent years, Colorado’s life science, biotechnology and
technology sectors have demonstrated remarkable growth. Today over
2,500 bioscience related companies exist which has resulted in
bringing $1.6 billion on average annually in startup funding to the state
for the past several years. However, despite this progress, there remains
a high barrier to entry driven by high operational costs associated with
setting up and maintaining laboratory space.
Poised to address this issue, a groundbreaking solution is underway in
the heart of Colorado. Founded by Dr. Afshin Safavi, the Colorado
Health Tech Centers (CHTC) are campuses across Colorado offering
physical space and customized resources to businesses expanding their
operations to Colorado, from budding start-ups to established
multinational corporations.
Why CHTC:
We are currently in the process of building 10 innovation hubs, each
between 40 to 400 thousand square feet. Our current project is the
Greenwood Village campus, it is four floors, each roughly the size of a
football field. These hubs will bring tech, biotech, primary doctors’
offices, AI, quantum, and space exploration all under one umbrella to
create innovation. By virtue of having a nurse from a primary doctor’s
office being on the elevator with the CEO of a biotech company and an
engineer from a tech company, that’s where the conversations and
innovation start, and that is what we are providing.
Nordic Investment Mission 2024:
I recently had the opportunity to travel with Governor Polis, his office,
OEDIT, and the global business development team to Denmark
Sweeden, and Finland. We got to meet with our counterparts in these
countries, learn about their projects, and promote what we are working
on in Colorado. As a result, we are attracting investments, talent,
partnerships, and collaborative projects with our Nordic counterparts. I
would like to thank Governor Jared Polis personally, as well as his office
team, the entire OEDIT team, and the global business development team
for inviting me along to travel with them as we foster these connections
and expand the global footprint of Colorado.
Colorado as a top 5 U.S. biotech hub:
As biotech continues to boom in Colorado and we push toward
becoming a top 5 U.S. biotech hub, several elements will need to come
together to continue to fuel this innovation and growth.
The first element is the physical space for these businesses, ideas, and
innovators to come together and thrive, and that is what Colorado Health
& Tech Centers is providing. The second element is talent, which
Colorado has done an amazing job of cultivating through the universities.
We will be working closely with the universities to ensure that talent has
a place to go to work and that we as a state can retain them, not lose them
to other competing biotech hubs. Third, is funding- and we are in
discussion with private equity and venture capital to bring those sources
of funding into our facilities to operate and directly fund the up-and-
coming companies who will be occupying our innovation hubs. The
fourth element of this is experience, a little bit of grey hair. There are
numerous ex-CEOs and CFOs in the area, and we are bringing them in
to have an office and providing consulting to these fledgling companies
as they go from idea to product to market. The fifth and final element we
see as necessary is the support of local and state level governments, with
their support companies like CHTC and the innovators we provide space
to, the possibilities are limitless.
My involvement in the recent Nordic Investment Mission was a crucial
step to connecting government, businesses, innovators, and global
partners. Together, we will make Colorado into not just one of the top 5
U.S. biotech hubs, but a globally recognized innovation hub for biotech,
tech, AI, quantum, and space exploration.
Visit https://coloradohtc.com/ for regular updates on CHTC.
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