Portal Innovations, a US-based life science venture creation and development platform, has launched a new incubator and dedicated venture fund in Salt Lake City, Utah.
The fund was created in partnership with Convexity Properties and High Boy Ventures. It will invest in early and growth-stage startups with Portal’s usual focus on life sciences and biotech.
The incubator, Woodbine Labs, is the fourth location for Portal Innovations in the US, where it also runs the UChicago Science Incubator, New Jersey Innovation Hub, and Ocean State Labs.
Woodbine Labs is receiving ecosystem support from BioUtah, a local life sciences trade association, and is expected to serve as a commercialisation pathway for spinouts from institutions in the state, including the University of Utah and Brigham Young University.
“This project reflects exactly why we launched the Powered by Portal platform. By combining thoughtful lab design and management with hands-on strategic founder support, we help our partners and the startups in these spaces focus on what matters most – commercialising great science.
“Utah has all the ingredients for continued life sciences and techbio growth especially at the interface between AI and biology, and we’re excited to be part of that momentum in Salt Lake City.”
John Flavin, founder and CEO of Portal Innovations
The new fund appears to be unrelated to the Velocity Fund, a $100 million seed investment vehicle announced by Portal Innovations last summer.
Portal Innovations was created in 2020 by John Flavin, two years after his departure from the University of Chicago’s Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. He had founded the Polsky Center in 2013.
The firm provides seed capital, wet lab spaces and strategic resources to life sciences startups, typically in ecosystems that are experiencing increased entrepreneurial activity but may lack sufficient local venture capital.
