The Innovation Epicenter ~ CIC at Kendall-MIT

Very nice article today in Globe by Robert Weisman entitled The Idea Factory spotlighting the Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) in Kendall Square's One Broadway building just next to MIT... Founded by MIT Sloan alumnus Tim Rowe and colleagues in 1999 at the height of dot.communism, this space for startups and emerging growth companies endured and has thrived through flexibility and friendliness and mostly through extremely competent and creative execution. Various Boston-metro spinouts from MIT got their start in CIC, including ThingMagic, Ember, Mok3, and dozens more. Among the compelling aspects of the space are sharable conference rooms across multiple floors, centrally managed IT and infrastructural support, and well-maintained and attractive kitchen areas which help orchestrate serendipity by maximizing the odds that interesting people from the CIC venture community connect with one another... Weisman's article mentions a few more tenants, including InVivo Therapeutics, born of MIT Sloan Fellows collaborating with biotechnologists. Bigco's like Google started their local presence in CIC and other key members of our larger venture community have had a presence there, including various law firms, venture funds, and even swissnex, the pioneering technology-business consulate which hosts entrepreneurial visitors and special events. As I wrote about recently, the Technology Venture Zone surrounding MIT is the result of the tremendous economic and urban regeneration of the near-neighborhood around the Institute (partly seeded by MIT itself, as I noted in an Xconomy article entitled How Kendall Square Became Hip: MIT Pioneered University-Linked Business Parks). Take a look where CIC fits into this larger mix... Despite these business parks all competing for clients, the CIC really stands out for its focus on young ventures, university spinouts, and a commitment to the ultra-innovative. It is truly the Innovation Epicenter of Kendall Square, Cambridge, and for that matter, Massachusetts.