We are the place-making, entrepreneurial support organization within UF Innovate dedicated to working with entrepreneurs, innovators, and business builders.
Apply to be a resident client or join our “pass” program to gain access to the facility and our coveted equipment and conference rooms.
Our Programs Focus On Four Proven Business-Building Pillars To Accelerate A Venture’s Development And Potential Success.
Join our elite mentoring program
When you provide a gift to us, you’re assisting the community of entrepreneurs and emerging businesses we serve.
Inspire, educate, and empower founders in all phases of the innovation lifecycle throughout the state of Florida.
Once admitted to our program, gain access to our perks, conference room bookings system, and other valuable curated entrepreneurial information.
UF Innovate | Accelerate is the place-making, entrepreneurial support organization within UF Innovate dedicated to working with entrepreneurs, innovators, and business builders. Through two award-winning, globally recognized facilities, UF Innovate | Accelerate delivers industry-leading entrepreneurial programs and services designed (1) to accelerate the growth and development of its client companies and (2) to increase the likelihood of success of the business ventures it serves.
By offering a structured business entrepreneurship support program and surrounding our entrepreneurial ventures with important business-building capabilities, UF Innovate | Accelerate clients can grow faster and stronger than they would on their own by accessing proven business-development services that accelerate venture growth, investment and success.
Access to mentors and trusted advisors
Introductions to knowledgeable small business service providers and resource partners
Capital access support (including VC and angel introductions and pitch deck preparation support)
Special events, workshops, and classes with skilled practitioners, surrounded by more than 90 other like-minded, early-stage venture founders
Curated business development support services
Access to shared services (IT, business center, shared scientific equipment, and facility common areas)
Unique to our mission, UF Innovate | Accelerate not only works with UF-affiliated ventures but with ventures spawned from the communities we serve. Selection is highly competitive and is done through a formal application process and payment of a non-refundable application fee.
We provide outstanding programs to assist startups and early-stage growth companies. Our offerings include assistance with finding finances and forming relationships with venture investment groups; access to legal and accounting help; matching company leaders with experienced entrepreneurs and advisors in specialty areas; and guidance on recruitment of qualified employees.
Located in Alachua, Accelerate at Sid Martin Biotech has quality laboratory space, conference/training rooms, animal facilities, greenhouses, and over $1.7 million of shared scientific equipment.
The center of the Gainesville Innovation District between UF and downtown, Accelerate at The Hub is a mixed-use business incubator and the largest home for early-stage companies in the Southeastern United States. It has dry and web laboratory space, conference/training rooms, fume hoods and clean rooms, and connections to UF resources, funding opportunities, professional service providers, and more.
Our leadership group is an unmatched team of seasoned business leaders, advisors, and support staff.
These primers offer entrepreneurs tips and tricks to help them successfully start and grow their companies. Discover how UF Innovate | Accelerate can help you go further.
Entrepreneurial Hustle: All Gas, No Brakes
Biolaunch Primer: Pioneering the Future of Healthcare
Business Development Tips for Startups: Always Be Connecting Dots and Turning Over Rocks
Crafting a Compelling Biopitch Deck for Biotech Startups
5 Fast Tips for Successful Mentorship
Maximizing Mentorship: Five Tips for Being an Exceptional Mentee
Entrepreneur’s Primer: Navigating Risk, Decisions, and Judgement
$10.9 billion of invested capital
84 percent success rate (clients that remain a viable company five years after graduation)
Our active client portfolio exceeds 91 companies and spans 9 major segments
26 percent of our resident clients are affiliated with UF
28 clients have graduated in the past 3 years
Wages are 34 percent higher than the state of Florida average
At 130,000 square feet, UF Innovate | Accelerate has one of the largest super hub programs in the United States
More than 252 residential companies assisted
Recipients of 9 international awards and designated one of the 20 InBIA Soft Landings programs
We’ve been successfully incubating companies since 1995 and have compiled the metrics that demonstrate our economic impact. You can view or download these metrics here:
Our measurable success in incubating companies
Our annual client economic impact report
Our alumni companies within the Alachua County ecosystem
Our biotech incubation success stories
Dynamic, Collaborative & Inclusive Entrepreneurial Ecosystem
One of the Largest Super Hub Programs in U.S.
Open Access to University/Global “Best of Breed” Start-ups
Big Wins Drive Commercialization Success
Nearly 47% of our Founders are SEDI**
Over 90 companies in our world-class incubation/ second stage program
23% of companies Collaborating with other companies in our program
IP-backed Ventures have generated over $25.3B in economic impact
InBIA
Florida Business Incubation Association
InBIA Soft Landings Network
BioFlorida
In 2020, Sid Martin Biotech won the Randall M. Whaley Incubator of the Year award; it is the only incubator to have won it more than once. It also received the 2020 Rural Entrepreneurship Center of the Year.
In 2018, The Hub won the global Mixed-Use Entrepreneurship Center of the Year from the InBIA.
In 2017, Sid Martin Biotech won the International Business Innovation Association’s Randall M. Whaley Global Incubator of the Year award for a second time. (Sid Martin Biotech had won the Randall M. Whaley award in 2013 along with the InBIA’s Dinah Adkins Technology Incubator of the year.) Also in 2017, the Sid picked up the InBIA Science/Technology Entrepreneurship Center of the Year at InBIA’s International Conference in Seattle.
In 2013, University Business Incubator Index named us the Top Biotech among university business incubators, using 50+ performance indicators among 150 incubators in 22 countries as criteria for the award. We also received the 2014 State Science & Technology Institute (SSTI)’s “Excellence in Technology-Based Economic Development” award for our achievements in the technology commercialization category.
In fact, 12 percent of Florida biotech companies in business today got their start in UF Innovate’s incubation facilities; those incubated companies have created more than 8,200 jobs with an average annual salary of $79,200; and generated over $10.98 billion in private investment.
You could say we’re proud of our reputation and awards. (We are.) But we’re more proud of our mission statement — “We inspire entrepreneurs to create, change, and cure for a better world” — because that’s not just our mission; it’s what we do.
Community
Higher-skill, living wage jobs = Prosperity
Demolished AGH site
Foster connections between clients with UF and broader investment community
Catalyst
Anchors the Innovation District (2 blocks east of UF main campus); Bridge the gap between campus and downtown
Landing spot for promising spin off businesses; OTL co-located within building
Credibility
“Synergy” – putting all players in the same building will accelerate ability to create companies
Resource rich (making it a priority to get startups what they need to succeed)
Learn more about what it means to be part of a thriving innovation ecosystem. Hear firsthand from a successful graduate of our program what having our facilities and support meant to them and how they are paying it forward by working with next-generation founders in our thriving entrepreneurial community.
Discover the success stories behind our client partnerships!
A precision agriculture science company, offering cloud-based precision data solutions for specialty crops, utilizing machine vision, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to optimize practices and maximize crop yield and quality.
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Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
A precision agriculture science company, offering cloud-based precision data solutions for specialty crops, utilizing machine vision, machine learning, and artificial intelligence to optimize practices and maximize crop yield and quality.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur. Pulvinar eu nisi velit interdum orci varius id faucibus. Odio vel pretium imperdiet ac augue consequat molestie. Euismod etiam sem adipiscing consequat fermentum. Rhoncus at donec amet id pellentesque ac sed.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam, quis nostrud exercitation ullamco laboris nisi ut aliquip ex ea commodo consequat. Duis aute irure dolor in reprehenderit in voluptate velit esse cillum dolore eu fugiat nulla pariatur. Excepteur sint occaecat cupidatat non proident, sunt in culpa qui officia deserunt mollit anim id est laborum.
Discover the success stories behind our client partnerships!
12085 Research Dr, Alachua, FL 32615
mail@mail.test
747 SW 2nd Ave STE 160, Gainesville, FL 32601
mail@mail.test
(352) 294-0885
Tech Licensing: (352) 392-8929
Ventures: (352) 392-8929
Pathways: (352) 392-2577
The Hub: (352) 294-0885
747 SW 2nd Avenue
Gainesville, FL 32601
Sid Martin Biotech: (386) 462-0880
12085 Research Drive
Alachua, FL 32615
