Brooklyn, NY Industry City, the 35-acre innovation hub on the waterfront, made known that Aanika Biosciences is opening its 27,087 s/f location at the campus. The new space provides additional offices for Aanika Biosciences’ growing team and room to grow its research and development, wet lab testing, and biomanufacturing capabilities. The space will also include Cultured Colonies, an unprecedented lab co-working space offering monthly bench rentals and access to a shared suite of highly specialized molecular biology equipment such as incubators, centrifuges, and the Azure Biosystems UV gel imager.
Aanika Biosciences produces edible, microbial tags that can be applied to food products for precise tracking and traceability, mitigating contamination risk to the consumer, and protecting the safety and security of the world’s food supply. The company is backed by government funding and venture capital from Draper Associates, SOSV, and Adit Ventures, among others, with several forthcoming projects with large NGOs and multinational companies globally. The company joined the Industry City campus in 2018 in a 900 s/f space and, since then, has grown into a 3,000 s/f lab before building out the new facility.
“It’s exciting to be part of the remarkable growth of Aanika Biosciences and Cultured Colonies right here on campus, where they are carving out a hub for budding life sciences entrepreneurs,” said Jeff Fein, the senior vice president of leasing at Industry City. “Their growth story is a testament to the flourishing life sciences sector in New York City and, more specifically, within Industry City. Moreover, Cultured Colonies’ bench rentals complement the diverse life sciences offerings at Industry City, creating new opportunities for early-stage biotech companies to grow on campus.”
“We started Aanika Biosciences in one of Industry City’s smallest spaces over four years ago,” said Vishaal Bhuyan, CEO of Aanika Biosciences and Cultured Colonies. “Exponential growth is exciting but also intimidating. Planning, designing, and building out a highly technical lab--while still keeping experiments running-- reminded us of those early days and how tough it can be on a founder to get the right space for their needs. That’s when Cultured Colonies, our bench rental / lab coworking concept was born, and now will be a great starting off point for scientists building their biotech businesses.”
The opening is emblematic of New York City’s ongoing investment in the life sciences industry. In May, the New York City Economic Development Corp. (NYCEDC) announced an $800,000 investment in Aanika Biosciences as part of LifeSci NYC, a $1 billion initiative to create 40,000 jobs over the next 10 to 15 years. The funding from NYCEDC allowed Aanika Biosciences to expand its existing location by 25,000 s/f. The investment marked one of the first of its kind in the city’s history as no other agriculture-tech seed stage incubator exists in New York City.
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