Florida Innovation Hub at UF

The Mission

The Florida Innovation Hub was created to serve as catalyst for startup companies whose technologies emanated from laboratories at the University of Florida and throughout the state. Our mission is to provide them with the infrastructure, logistics and resources needed to get up and running effectively and efficiently. In doing so, the Innovation Hub hopes to help those companies and others bring research discoveries to the marketplace, creating additional jobs for Floridians.

The Innovation Hub is the first building in Gainesville’s centerpiece-to-be, Innovation Square, which will bridge the distance between the UF campus and downtown, both figuratively and structurally.

Modeled after successful entrepreneurial-focused commercialization centers. According to the National Business Incubation Association (NBIA), companies that graduate from a business incubator create jobs, revitalize neighborhoods and commercialize new technologies, thus strengthening local, regional and national economies. Historically, NBIA member incubators have reported that 87 percent of all firms that have graduated from their incubators are still in business.

The 48,000-square-foot facility was built with an $8.2 million grant from the federal Economic Development Administration and a $5 million commitment from UF.

June 14, 2010 groundbreaking ceremony featured UF officials, community leaders and approximately 200 citizens. Speakers included: U.S. Assistant Secretary of Commerce for Economic Development John Fernandez, UF President Bernie Machen, UF Vice President for Research Winfred Phillips and Gainesville Mayor Craig Lowe.