1776, a Washington, D.C.-based incubator centered on early stage companies across areas like healthcare, education, environment and transportation, has inked a deal to acquire the San Francisco incubator Hattery to add a West Coast presence. It’s the second acquisition for the incubator in less than one month.
Hattery has the distinction of being the most expensive shared workspace in San Francisco, according to a blog by Kalin Kelly — a partner at 357 Investments.
In a statement from 1776 on the deal it said:
“1776 will continue to operate Hattery as an independent community for the foreseeable future. 1776 members will have access to Hattery’s workspace and its network as a connection point into Silicon Valley, while Hattery residents will have access to the 1776 network to help build their businesses, particularly with 1776’s deep connections and expertise in complex, regulated sectors like education, health, energy, transportation, smart cities, and more.”
As part of the deal Hattery’s directors such as Luis Arbulu of Samsung and managing director Josh Mendelsohn will become strategic advisers for 1776.
The move on Hattery follows the 1776 acquisition of Disruption Corp. — a Virginia-based shared workspace and fund founded by venture capitalist Paul Singh. The deal also gave it access to Singh’s fund. It also signals a shift in the 1776 strategy to expand its physical presence and begin to consolidate the massive number of incubators and shared workspaces around the country.
1776 developed an annual international competition for entrepreneurs across education, health, energy and transportation called the Challenge Cup. Having more real estate will help it strengthen relationships with its far-flung members by expanding its virtual memberships into physical ones and generate more money.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Although 1776 charges about $300 per month for a physical presence in its DC offices, Hattery’s monthly subscription is a hefty $835 per month. That also includes a culinary team that prepares lunch, something that tends to get left off the priority list of most scrappy startups, who tend to just want a clean place to work, decent WiFi access, access to mentors and a kitchen to heat up last night’s leftovers.
Over the years 1776 has found different ways to expand its contact with early stage companies. It has had a virtual membership which doesn’t require a physical presence but provides access to services and programs. It also formed a Startup Federation to give members of the affiliated incubators and shared work spaces in the group access to each others’ offices, resources and enable them to participate in each others’ workshops to benefit their members.
