How Virtual Communities Support Science Entrepreneurs
By Andrés Ochoa, Managing Director of the Activate Anywhere Community
Activate Anywhere helps entrepreneurs in the United States turn their ideas into products and find the best way to grow their technology.
Most of the experience is virtual, with entrepreneurs participating in Activate programming and education through virtual meetings, supplemented by an in-person component held quarterly. These entrepreneurs gather at a designated location every three months to share successes and challenges, network with fellow entrepreneurs and investors, and tour commercial facilities and companies. As the Activate Anywhere Community enters its third year, a new cohort of ten companies will join this summer.
When I joined Activate a year ago as managing director for the Activate Anywhere Community, my initial question was: Can this truly be accomplished virtually? Moreover, can one genuinely forge robust connections with other entrepreneurs and establish a network of founders, investors, and supporters this way?
I’m pleased to report that the short answer is YES. I’ve seen it with my own eyes, and it’s happening with 18 fellow companies in the Activate Anywhere Community. These scientists tackle a range of issues, from improving propulsion for rockets (Juno Propulsion) to doubling the capacity of processing networks in data centers through high-performance photonic links (Lucidean) to decarbonizing the steel industry (Limelight Steel), just to name a few.
In my time at Activate, I’ve learned that a virtual community is not only a nice-to-have but a must-have for supporting science entrepreneurship. And it’s crucial for addressing some of humanity’s most pressing challenges. Why?
First, a virtual community for science entrepreneurs leverages untapped potential.
I participated in an accelerator program in Silicon Valley almost a decade ago. To be in the program, I had to relocate from South America to the United States, where I could access the resources necessary to succeed. This program was crucial for allowing me to transition from scientist to entrepreneur. After all, San Francisco is a rich environment. Every café and bar was filled with people discussing their companies and ideas, striving to connect with others who understood their struggles and dreams. This is true in dense innovation centers like the San Francisco Bay Area, Boston, and New York.
This was great for me and my situation, but what about the scientists in different circumstances scattered all over the country (and even globally)? What about those who don’t want to leave their geographies (or can’t)—yet still want to start a company and make a difference? What choices do they have? The fact of the matter is, historically, there haven’t been very many options for these folks—and a lot of potential still goes untapped today.
To expand on this, there are approximately 4,000 degree-granting post-secondary institutions in the United States, according to the latest data gathered by the National Center for Education Statistics from 2021-2022. Meanwhile, America’s innovation centers are only home to a little more than five percent of those institutions. Boston has approximately 35 colleges, universities, and community colleges; the San Francisco Bay Area has around 57 colleges, universities, and technical schools; and New York City has around 120 institutions of higher education. While there is slight variability in these numbers (depending upon the year and source of the number), no matter how you slice it, it’s safe to say that a lot of scientific resources outside these hubs go untapped. Knowing this, by targeting universities across the United States, we are confident that we could at least double our current pool of Activate Anywhere applications, of which we had around four hundred in 2023 (for only 10 slots!).
“It’s safe to say that a lot of scientific resources outside these hubs go untapped.”
The virtual Activate Anywhere Community provides more opportunities for scientists to make a difference across a range of sectors and industries that desperately need attention (like carbon management, energy, and agriculture, just to name a few.) The bottom line? We require more than just three or four innovation centers across our whole country. We need a decentralized network of innovation operating with high efficiency if we aim to address some of the most pressing challenges we’ll face in the next 10 to 50 years, particularly in areas like climate change.
Activate is uniquely positioned to help create this virtual decentralized network. During our quarterly trips, fellows in the Activate Anywhere Community travel to innovation centers and interact with those communities. We also bring in key stakeholders from these ecosystems for our virtual programming. These efforts provide entrepreneurs with opportunities to build connections from wherever they are—opportunities they would not have otherwise.
Secondly, virtual networks and communities connect science entrepreneurs with people experiencing the same challenges. Fellows in the Activate Anywhere Community provide invaluable, specific advice to one another, which turns out to be just as important as the financial support fellows receive.
Entrepreneurs in regions outside of main innovation hubs need a community of peers who understand their challenges. This support is crucial in areas where starting a business seems impractical compared to securing a good job—unlike in regions like the San Francisco Bay Area, where everyone is eager to start their own ventures.
At Activate, for example, our fellows can reach out to those who share the same challenges as they start companies simultaneously. They can connect with our second-year fellows (as the fellowship is a two-year program) and seek advice on matters fresh in their minds. They can leverage assistance from Activate staff and other fellows to be introduced to potential advisors and industry partners. Overall, they feel less isolated and become part of a group of individuals with shared goals and ideals.
A virtual community creates a sense of belonging for entrepreneurs outside traditional science or technology hotspots. Even better, these entrepreneurs begin to become recognized as leaders within their local communities.
"Starting a company is not a traditional job path, and there can be a lot of uncertainty around what being an entrepreneur really means," says Sixline Semiconductor CEO and co-founder Katy Jinkins (Cohort 2023). "When starting my company, I felt very fortunate to have a community within the Activate network to learn from. A lot of people have helped me on my journey, and now others come and ask our team for advice. They want to know how Activate has been an effective alternate path for scientists to become entrepreneurs."
Others in their local areas start to inquire about the program and how to navigate the path from university research to commercialization. This shows the impact of the virtual community on the local ecosystem.
Finally, a virtual science entrepreneurship community helps to create more diversity in the science entrepreneur ecosystem.
"SoloPulse Corp would not exist today without Activate's financial and educational support,” says Ally McKinney (Cohort 2022). “The Activate community is helping SoloPulse grow to become a strong, dual-use, radar software company tackling challenges in the military and ADAS/AV industry. Female founders like me in a non-Bay area city need support like what Activate provides.”
“A virtual community not only creates more opportunities for women and people from underrepresented communities to connect with one another but also aids in creating a broader diversity of thought and experience.”
When more scientists from different backgrounds and cultures enter the entrepreneurial sphere, more diverse and creative perspectives can arise to solve our biggest challenges.
I am personally excited to see how the Activate Anywhere community continues to grow and thrive and prove itself invaluable to science entrepreneurship in general.
If you want to contribute to building this decentralized innovation network, wherever you are in the country, please reach out to me via email. We are continuously expanding our network to find supporters for Activate Fellows, including venture capitalists, business partners, and advisors. This is especially crucial if you come from a technology area that is pivotal to addressing global issues and urgently needs innovation. Also, if you’re looking to join a robust virtual community of science entrepreneurs, applications for the Activate Fellowship open in early September 2024.
