Life Science Start Ups Helping Each Other Out

SFGate reported that some life science start ups in San Francisco are using innovative methods — such as buying used equipment or sharing operating space and equipment — to get their businesses off the ground.

As quoted in the market news:

For dozens of seed- and early-stage companies in the Bay Area, one solution is to share space and equipment at the California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences, or QB3, a network of life-science incubators in San Francisco, Berkeley and Palo Alto, the latest addition.

As of this month, those companies, including Nirmidas, have access to an even bigger toolbox. Under an agreement with American Laboratory Trading, which buys and sells used scientific instruments, QB3 will receive more than two dozen pieces of equipment for free. That’s on top of the nearly $1 million worth of equipment that QB3 tenants already have access to.

The arrangement may help the network’s 62 startups make the most of their lean budgets, which range from $100,000 to $1 million, said spokesman Kaspar Mossman. Venture capital was scarce for such companies following the recession, a trend now showing signs of turning around.

Click here to read the full SFGate report.