Hartford Business Journal

12 Hartford Business Journal • July 10, 2017 www.HartfordBusiness.com "Having startups with fresh ideas working side by side in the same physical space as the large corporations, that's what's successful — I think that's the major advantage." Upward Hartford, a space for startups and entrepreneurs designed to fuel technological innovation and creativity and lead to new jobs and energy in the region, is officially open on the transformed mezzanine of 20 Church St., the Stilts Building. Rebranded from Innovate Hartford, the incubator/accelerator/ecosys- tem includes open passage to the floor above for 27,453 square feet of distinctive space designed to get occupants mingling, creative juices flowing, business relationships sprout- ing and companies growing. The upper floor, with traditional offices and conference rooms and nontraditional spaces like a meditation room, is targeted for completion July 15, but the energy and vision of New York-based founder and CEO Shana Schlossberg is already apparent on the main floor. That's where representatives of every- thing from startups to established compa- nies can work at large shared desks, relax on couches, shoot pool, take a yoga class or perhaps watch a movie or presentation on a massive video board while snacking on popcorn from a popcorn cart. Nonmembers of Upward Hartford also can attend work- shops, yoga and other events for a fee. A new Upward Hartford app allows peo- ple to check event schedules, reserve confer- ence rooms and more. A recent Friday afternoon featured two live bands organized by Upward Hartford in the Stilts plaza at Church and Main streets and food trucks to serve Stilts workers and others. They're all part of the energy Schlossberg is trying to create in a city she sees as ripe for an innovation explosion fueled, in part, by local and out-of-state investors who share her vision and are eager to grow local companies. Schlossberg, who's recruiting startups and entrepreneurs from abroad and locally, sees herself, in part, as a matchmaker — blending startups with major companies, creating bonds in a common space to help young companies get the contacts and investments they need and to help estab- lished companies get access to technol- ogy or services they need. Nine major local companies are seriously considering leasing space at Upward Hartford, she said. It's also a place where angel investors like Knight can get sneak previews of startups and possible investment opportunities. from page 1 Upward Hartford's international appeal By John Stearns jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com M eidad Vaknin, owner, CEO and chief technology officer of AMnetpro, a Bogotá, Colombia-based company, plans to lease office space in Upward Hart- ford, initially for three engineers and hopefully grow from there. He said he's drawn, in part, by the region's student-talent pipeline. His company developed a telemetry system using low-energy circuits for remote monitoring of different variables and processes for myriad industries. The system reports only when there's an issue or to provide status updates, which con- sumes less electromagnetic spectrum and energy than constant reporting of data, he said. Vaknin likened his system to patients calling medics only when they have a prob- lem, not calling every day to say they're OK. AMnetpro develops electronic circuits for the Internet of Things, machine to machine, telemetry and supervisory control and data acquisition (SCADA). Its InBeeBox, a remote terminal unit, can receive and transmit per- formance information and uses artificial intel- ligence to become an extension of engineers, Vaknin said. Using operational models and virtual intel- ligence, InBeeBox can perform real-time anal- ysis and provide operators the best course of action, or take actions and only inform the operator about them, he said. Meantime, AMnetpro's cloud applica- tion, SCADACenter, stores performance information in the cloud, allowing operators anywhere to analyze the data as it flows and reduce operating costs. In coming to Hartford, Vaknin sees a pipe- line of young talent in the region, engineering students with open minds who haven't been "contaminated" by process and procedure. "They apply mathematics, they don't apply experience," and are sponges willing to investigate, learn and teach, he said. While cities like Boston may be better known for their universities, Vaknin believes smaller towns produce good workers. AMnetpro's Hartford office will be its sec- ond sister office, following another in Israel. The company has worked in a similar col- laborative environment in Israel and likes its network of professionals. "What we find in Hartford is exactly that, it's a place where you have the university, and young people that want to learn, and Calling Hartford home Thomas Howe, chief tech- nology officer of Ten Digit Communications, which text- enables business phones for text messaging, is happy to call Upward Harford home. Ten Digit customers include large enterprises with numer- ous contact centers and agents, so Hartford, home to industries like insurance, health care and government, is attractive. "For us to have a place to come in Hartford, to start our business, to get introductions into the right people in the city has been super valuable to us," Howe said. Upward Hartford is appeal- ing for its location — in Hartford, he said. "We're believers in the city," Howe said. "We believe that this is a real opportunity waiting to happen." Hartford aims to grow startup ecosystem Upward Hartford's coworking space (left) is designed to promote mingling and networking and features shared desks, couches and a large video screen for presentations or even movies. (Top right) Upward Hartford's Nadiya Anderson and Chris Dudanowicz shoot a round of pool. (Bottom right) Upward Hartford brings in food trucks and live music. Stacey Brown, founder of InsurTech Hartford and a 15-year IT veteran, sees Hartford as an ideal place to grow the startup community around insurance technology. Boaz Zilberman, CEO of Tel Aviv-based Project Ray, demonstrates the company's software application that allows blind and visually impaired people to operate smartphones. H B J P H O T O | J O H N S T E A R N S H B J P H O T O | J O H N S T E A R N S H B J P H O T O S | J O H N S T E A R N S

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