Sid Martin Biotech ranked first again

ALACHUA – For the third time this year, the University of Florida Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator, located in Alachua, received top marks as an incubator. Sweden-based research group University Business Index (UBI) ranked the Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator as the “World’s Best University Biotechnology Incubator” based on numerous criteria.

Conducted by UBI for the first time, the report was based on an extensive international study and analysis of 150 incubators across 22 countries.

“Being recognized as world’s top biotech incubator is especially gratifying because UBI’s rankings are data-driven,” said incubator director Patti Breedlove.

The assessment reviewed three general areas for each incubator including value for the “ecosystem” in which it operates, value for the client startups and attractiveness.

Within that framework, UBI assessed more than 50 performance indicators including economy enhancement, talent retention, access to funding, post-incubation relationships and internal environment.

“They asked for more information than I’ve ever been asked in a statistical ranking survey,” said Breedlove, noting how extensive the review was.

According to a University of Florida review of the full UBI assessment, the report found that European incubators perform substantially lower than U.S. programs, despite spending more on operations and client seed funding.

The report also reveals that European incubators provide their clients nine times as much seed funding but create 1.9 times fewer jobs and 2.8 times lower revenue per client per year.

Top incubators, like UF Sid Martin Biotech, create 2.8 times more jobs than the global average, according to the study.

“We couldn’t be more proud of the talented team at the Sid Martin Biotech Incubator. With their help, UF is producing an outstanding crop of bioscience companies,” said David L. Day, director of UF’s Office of Technology Licensing.

Breedlove also credits her team saying, “The group we have here is the best we’ve ever had,” said Breedlove. “They take a lot of pride in watching the companies grow and succeed.”

The Texas-based Alliance for Technology and Entrepreneurship was named top global incubator overall. Other top incubators by sector were Ireland’s NDR Launchpad (information technology), and New York’s UB Technology (life sciences).

The Sid Martin Biotechnology Incubator was ranked by National Business Incubation Association (NBIA) as the 2013 Incubator of the Year. NBIA also ranked Sid Martin Biotech as the top technology incubator earlier this year.

In 2007, Sid Martin Biotech was first runner-up for NBIA’s Incubator of the Year award.

Built in 1995, UF Sid Martin Biotech is one of the U.S.’s first bio-business incubators. The 40,000-square-foot bioscience complex is located at Progress Corporate Park in Alachua. The incubator’s companies and graduates have attracted more than $1 billion in equity investment, contracts, grants, and merger and acquisition activity.

University of Florida News Desk Writer Nathalie McCrate contributed to this story.

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