Austin Technology Incubator (ATI) Contracts Consulting Team of Balfour Beatty/Estrada Hinojosa for Wet-Laboratory Incubator Study
Austin, TX (PRWEB) December 07, 2013 -- The Austin Technology Incubator (ATI), a part of the IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin, announced a partnership with the multinational infrastructure team of Balfour Beatty/Estrada Hinojosa, to assist ATI in its effort to determine the optimal financing strategy to support a wet-laboratory incubator in the Austin area.
“Wet laboratories are essential for accelerating innovative life science technologies into the market place,” said Cindy WalkerPeach, PhD, Director, ATI-Bio/Health Sciences, “Along with IP, talent and capital, wet laboratories support critical proof of concept experiments and early product development.” A wet laboratory incubator would house a mixture of companies, both life sciences and energy-focused, facilitating the interaction between academia and industry, promoting economic development, and potentially focusing bioscience entrepreneurship in Austin.
ATI has been awarded an Economic Development Administration grant to develop a public-private partnership (P3) financing strategy to support the capital infrastructure expense of a wet laboratory incubator in Austin. ATI will team with Balfour Beatty/Estrada Hinojosa to develop several P3 models that could support the expected 150,000 square foot facility’s initial $100 million project cost.
Balfour Beatty/EH team is a leader in the P3 U.S. commercial construction industry, with capabilities in professional services, construction services, support services and infrastructure investments. Ken Portnoy, Vice President for Public Private Partnerships at Balfour Beatty Construction said, “We and our friends at Estrada Hinojosa Investment Bankers are excited about teaming with ATI to identify public private partnership (P3) options that can bridge funding gaps and support the delivery and long-term viability of the Austin Technology Incubator. We believe that the key driver of a successful P3 solution is the goal of economic development through strong and sustainable job creation.”
About ATI
The Austin Technology Incubator harnesses business, government and academic resources to provide strategic counsel, operational guidance, and infrastructure support to its member companies to help them transition into successful, high-growth technology businesses. ATI, a part of the IC2 Institute at the University of Texas at Austin, has a 25-year history of successful new venture support with a focus on getting startups funded. ATI has worked with more than 250 companies, helping them raise over $1 billion of investor capital. Over the past three years of the “Great Recession,” ATI has incubated more than 50 companies and helped them raise over $70 million in investor capital; during that same 3 year period, ATI alumni companies realized over $200 million in exit value. Roughly 75% of the companies admitted into ATI membership subsequently receive funding. ATI is committed to working with the best founding teams. ATI has a dual mission: promote economic development in Central Texas through entrepreneurial wealth and job creation, and provide a “teaching laboratory” in applied entrepreneurship for UT-Austin students and faculty.
About Balfour Beatty
Balfour Beatty Construction’s parent company, Balfour Beatty plc, is a publicly traded company on the London Stock Exchange and one of the world’s largest infrastructure companies, with annual revenue in excess of $18 billion. Balfour Beatty is a leader in the delivery, construction, financing, and operation of P3 infrastructure in the UK and the United States. In the UK, Balfour Beatty has delivered, operates, and owns hospitals and schools for the government in which the company is responsible for the building financing, operations and maintenance, and provides all services other than the direct medical and educational services. Moreover, Balfour Beatty Construction is the largest infrastructure contractor in Texas with over $1 billion in annual revenues in the state, and its professional services company, Parsons Brinkerhoff, is one of the most respected public sector consultants in the state, with offices in every major city, including Austin.
About Estrada Hinojosa & Company, Inc.
Estrada Hinojosa & Company, Inc. is a registered broker/dealer headquartered in Dallas, Texas with
branches in San Antonio, Houston, Austin, Miami, San Diego, Chicago, New York, and Phoenix. The firm is a leading investment bank specializing in public finance, providing municipal financial advisory and bond underwriting services to institutional customers.
Keywords: ATI, biotechnology, incubator, bioscience, life science, P3, startups, entrepreneurship
Robin Murphy, The Austin Technology Incubator, http://ati.utexas.edu/, +1 (512) 305-0024, [email protected]
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