Nataliya Lyzikova serves as manager of business development for Yuzhnoye, an international company from the Ukraine. The company sought to enter U.S. markets in order to commercialize more than 300 former defense technologies. Photo by RPI/Jessica Otitigbe. Simplicita Software Inc. — a company that joined the Rensselaer Incubator Program just last summer — was recently acquired by Sandvine Corporation, a leading provider of intelligent broadband network solutions for DSL, cable, and wireless carriers. Pictured here (from left to right) Taro Omiya, a Rensselaer undergraduate and company employee; Bill Waters, founder; and Matthew Elgie, a company employee. Photo by RPI/Jessica Otitigbe.

Program Nurtures New Opportunities and Start-Up Technology Companies

Troy, N.Y. — For more than 25 years, the Incubator Program at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute has been a pioneer in nurturing the development of entrepreneurial companies, helping them survive and grow during the start-up period, when they are the most vulnerable. The program today announced that an additional 24 companies have joined in the past fiscal year, along with the acquisition of two incubator companies by leading national and international corporations.

“Entrepreneurship is ingrained in the Rensselaer culture,” said Michael Tentnowski, director of the Incubator Program.  “As a place devoted exclusively to giving life to new ideas, the Incubator acts as a ‘living laboratory’ where ideas generated in classrooms, research centers, and beyond can be tested and applied in real-world environments.”

The companies that have joined the program focus on a number of technological areas, including  developing automated applications for interactive marketing and commerce via the Internet; creating affordable and intuitive technology for parents and educators of children with communication difficulties; using IP telephony technology to link branch offices, home offices, and mobile workers via computers; unmanned aerial vehicle research; and producing environmentally friendly technologies focused on sustainability, conservation, and alternative energy generation, among others.

The Incubator Program offers an extensive suite of business services, including infrastructure-based support, mentoring, business development, fund-raising events, and networking opportunities. To date, 40 companies are part of the program. There are 18 companies housed at the Incubator on campus, several of them having expanded their office space, and 22 affiliated companies located throughout the Capital Region, the United States, Canada, Denmark, Brazil, India, France, and the Ukraine.

“In joining the Incubator, each company has an opportunity to nurture their technology venture as a means of commercializing discovery and innovation within an academic environment,” Tentnowski said.

Simplicita Software Inc. — a company that joined the Rensselaer Incubator Program just last summer — was recently acquired by Sandvine Corporation, a leading provider of intelligent broadband network solutions for DSL, cable, and wireless carriers. Simplicita provides security software for Internet service providers (ISPs), and has created a “zombie zapper,” which is the first of its kind. In addition, last year, AdInterax — a provider of rich media advertising solutions to online publishers, was acquired by Yahoo!.

Tentnowski also noted that the Incubator is focused on attracting, nurturing, and retaining high-technology companies in the region. For example, the program’s first international company, from the Ukraine, sought to enter U.S. markets in order to commercialize more than 300 former defense technologies.

In addition, two recent graduates of the program, Web Scribble Solutions and Applied Science Innovations, have established offices in Rensselaer’s Technology Park. Another Incubator graduate, 1st Playable Productions, has grown out of the Incubator and into office space located in downtown Troy. 

Celery LLC – a company founded by a Rensselaer undergraduate student — developed a mail service device that allows users to send and receive e-mail without the use of a computer. In 2006, the company was selected as one of the winners of the “Best of What’s New” award by Popular Science. The award was presented to the top 100 tech innovations of the year. In addition, the company is the winner of the 2007 Summit in Tech Valley’s $100,000 business plan competition. 

Rensselaer’s Incubator Program was founded in 1980, making it one of the oldest U.S. incubators and the first wholly owned and operated by a university. Since its inception, about one-third of the incubator companies have been started by Rensselaer professors, another third by Rensselaer students, and the final third by those within the surrounding community, according to Tentnowski.

“Our goal is to continue building on Rensselaer’s extraordinary history of fostering innovation and moving ideas from the lab to the global marketplace,” Tentnowski said. “It is very rewarding to see the growth of successful companies as they leave our program financially stable and with commercially viable products and services. The recent and future Incubator graduates have the potential to create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods, commercialize technologies, and strengthen local, national, and even international economies.”

Tentnowski noted that future plans for the Incubator include being designated as an International Soft Landing Zone through the National Business Incubation Association, collaborating with other Rensselaer schools and departments to foster entrepreneurship within academic settings, collaborating with downstate facilities for international incubation with access to New York city and other strategic markets, and building relationships to support initiatives aimed at international incubation and emerging opportunities in the global economy.  

For more information about Rensselaer’s Incubator Program, go to: www.incubator.com

Profile of the Latest Rensselaer Incubator Companies

Contact: Jessica Otitigbe
Phone: (518) 276-6050
E-mail: otitij@rpi.edu