Hartford Business Journal

www.HartfordBusiness.com • May 14, 2018 • Hartford Business Journal 17 business model, focusing more on pro- grams and services for entrepreneurs — including its business mentoring, internships connecting students with startups, and accelerators — from its 5,900-square-foot, two-floor space in the emerg- ing and eclectic Parkville district. The for-profit Upward Hart- ford, occupying 27,453 square feet in the Stilts Building at Church and Main streets, touts signifi- cant coworking and network- ing space, events and, as of early this year, an annual InsurTech Accelera- tor, part of what's called Hartford InsurTech Hub, run by London-based Startupbootcamp to bring innova- tion to the city's insurance industry and spawn new InsurTech compa- nies and jobs locally. InsurTech is a key focus of Upward Hartford. The InsurTech Accelerator is funded by grants from CTNext, a qua- si-public entity that oversees the state's new In- novation Places program and which picked InsurTech as a sector to grow. The accelerator also receives matching grants from insurers and others. Separately, an organic community, InsurTech Hartford, has arisen at Up- ward Hartford featuring a communi- ty of insurance executives and others interested in advancing the sector. Schlossberg said Upward Hartford, which celebrated its first anniversary May 9, is much more than a collab- orative workspace. "Our mission is to create; we're an innovation hub," she said, aiming to help Hartford create a critical mass of innovations similar to those in innovation capitals like Silicon Valley. "We will do everything that will get us to that goal," she said. "We'll do every partnership, every hackathon, we'll support any startup and every startup that wants to set up, that wants connections." Upward Harford and reSET are far from the only startup/incubator/ac- celerator games in the region or state. Others include: • UConn's Technology Incubation Pro- gram in Farm- ington focused on bioscience startups; • UConn's Connecticut Center of En- trepreneurship and Innovation; • The Con- necticut Center for Advanced Tech- nology Inc. in East Hartford; • The Accelerator for Biosciences in Connecticut, a statewide effort. Jessica Dodge, program man- ager of CTNext, estimated there are dozens of coworking, accelerator and incubator spaces statewide, includ- ing a broad spectrum of university affiliates and private businesses with incubators and accelerators. "All of those things as a collective whole are really good indicators that something is working," Dodge said. "There is the need to continue to spark new ideas to support the grow- ing ecosystem of entrepreneurs." With the various industry-specific efforts underway to advance biosci- ence, medical devices and insurance technology, among others, Naeem sees a nice space for reSET. "I think reSET's still the only or- ganization that's catering to a broad industry range of early stage startups," she said. For Schlossberg, the more orga- nizations nursing innovation, the better. It makes each stronger and creates a powerful team overall. Naeem said more entrepreneurs are emerging in the area, in part due to the services and programs geared to them. "Because there is an increase in talent and caliber of these compa- nies, you're seeing the need for enti- ties like Upward Hartford and reSET (to) exist, which means there's plenty to go around," she said. ReSet's Financial Snapshot 2015 2016 Revenues $770,392 $576,216 Expenses $699,560 $811,079 Margin $70,832 ($234,863) Total Assets $415,631 $138,574 Source: Guidestar Shana Schlossberg, founder and CEO of Upward Hartford, is doing all she can to make her downtown operation and the city a national hub of innovation. Jessica Dodge, Program Manager, CTNext PHOTO | HBJ FILE

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