In what appears to be a support system for start-ups, Harvard Business School has opened a New York City incubator for enterprising alumni.
The university has quite a base to draw from. In New York alone, there are 900-plus HBS alumni who have started their own companies, and between 8,000 and 14,000 HBS alumni live in the New York, New Jersey and Connecticut Tristate area, according to director Avani Patel.
Temporarily housed in the WeWork space at 1460 Broadway, the HBS Startup Studio will move into a permanent location at 33 Irving Place in April. The new space will have 42 desks compared to the current setup of 27, as well as a conference room and presentation area. Beyond providing office space, programming and networking opportunities, the Manhattan start-up studio aims to attract potential investors, executives and industry leaders who are interested in mentoring or supporting the up-and-comers. “The real vision is to unlock the Harvard Business School network in the New York City area,” Patel said.
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The HBS New York Startup Studio is being funded by The Heckscher Foundation; Alessandro Piol, angel investor and cofounder of AlphaPrime, and Steven Wisch, chairman of Channel Control Merchants, which includes Dirt Cheap and Treasure Hunt in its retail division. While all three parties will have access to the studio like anyone else, Patel said, “However, I wouldn’t say they won’t have special privileges.”
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The first batch of New York-based newbies span an assortment of industries including health care, legal, food and media. Fashion is not represented at the moment but is expected to be. HBS has a proven record in the fashion and beauty sector, considering HBS graduates were among the founders of Rent the Runway, BaubleBar, Birchbox, Glamsquad and Gilt Groupe, Patel said.
“The success of these companies has been great to see, but the start-up studio is really something that HBS has been thinking about for a while,” she said. “HBS has seen so many alum do amazing things. It used to be that after business school, everyone wanted to go into banking and finance. Now the landscape is shifting so much and there are more and more different types of start-ups.”
Established in conjunction with the Arthur Rock Center for Entrepreneurship, this is the first off-site center for practicing entrepreneurs. Big on mentoring and giving alumni a helping hand, Harvard has long had a network of international offices. HBS aims to replicate the HBS Startup Studio in other cities around the world.
“Harvard is really on the forefront here. It will depend on the success of this in New York, but HBS is definitely thinking about additional locations around the globe,” said Patel, who noted HBS grads are said to account for an estimated 25 percent of the venture capital community.
In order to be eligible, applicants must have at least $500,000 in seed funding and fewer than seven employees. Once accepted, the companies can stay in the HBS start-up studio for up to 18 months. “We want to encourage entrepreneurs and attract investors to support them, as well as executives and industry leaders, who may or may not be part of this entrepreneur ecosystem. But they want to give back with their own services or mentor in some way,” Patel said.
Although Patel’s only link to Harvard is through her employment, her professional credentials measured up with HBS. Patel, who took on the directorship last month, continues to run her own company TrendSeeder, a New York-based fashion-focused accelerator, which also has an educational component. She has lined up more than 100 mentors for TrendSeeder, and has personally advised 500-plus entrepreneurs through that company and other organizations that she is affiliated with. A Loyola University graduate, Patel earned her MBA from Columbia Business School and a Juris Doctor degree from Northwestern University School of Law. In law school 15 years ago, she started the men’s and women’s contemporary sportswear company Nasaani and kept that running for four years.