• Ventures do not have to have an affiliation to UF or a UF tech license to access our space/services.
• Our program does not operate a student incubator. Student ventures must gain entry through our standard admissions process, meet eligibility criteria, and have a demonstrated ability to pay its fees.
• Participants may gain access to our services without having residential space in our facilities. Our external membership does not require full-time dedicated staff to the venture or a requirement to be located in our primary service area – North Central Florida.
• Our program does not serve clients in certain industry segments: gambling, tobacco/vaping, armaments, illegal enterprises or activities (marijuana, copyright infringement), adult entertainment, predatory lending, multi-level marketing, pyramid marketing schemes, and generally all non-profit organizations (unless they qualify as a venture support organization or have a for profit aspect to their business model).
• Admission decisions are at the full and final discretion of the Leadership Team.    Declined applicants may reapply  every 6 months or at the invitation of UF Innovate | Accelerate Leadership team.

• The venture must be an incorporated legal entity or incorporated before program entry. If the business is in existence @ time of its application, it must be in good standing with the state of incorporation.
• Before program entry, the venture’s founding team (anyone with > 20% ownership of the venture) must consent and pass a background check.
• In biotech, the venture must be in the R&D or process development stage. Bio-Manufacturing companies and companies conducting lengthy enrollments for clinical trial are not a good fit for the program.
• There must be an “innovation” (novel, useful, valuable) angle (faster, cheaper, better, smarter, simpler) or unique proprietary advantage to the venture’s business model.
• For non-bio ventures, the venture demonstrates it has an efficient capital business model. For bio ventures, the venture must demonstrate it has adequate cash, or is cash flow neutral or has access to funding to ensure operations can be maintained and not disrupted for a minimum of six (6) months.
• The venture must have high-growth potential and cannot be a lifestyle company, “service only” lab, “two researchers” with a grant, or a SBIR factory with no tangible commercialization intentions.

• At inception, the venture must commit at least 1 FTE to the venture or have a plan, in a reasonable period, to do so.
• The venture must be willing to provide economic impact information periodically. Growth is measured on traditional KPIs like jobs created, outside funding obtained, products launched patents applied for or awarded, and revenue growth and uncommon metrics (community engagement, DEI etc.) Typically, impact surveys will be due annually by Feb 15 and other surveys as requested.
• The venture must be willing to complete an initial Fluency Score and quarterly thereafter while in the incubation program.
• The venture will readily and willingly access advisory support to advance its strategic priorities as appropriate to its development.
• The venture must actively participate in one or more business-building programs annually.
• The venture will provide financial statements periodically as requested by UF Innovate | Accelerate.
• The venture is committed to making meaningful progress (including pivoting and de-risking key operating assumptions) toward graduation from the incubation program in an appropriate and/or reasonable timeframe.

The Venture is committed to one or more of the following community economic goals:

• Creating jobs – The venture recruits and selects higher quality, higher-paying jobs (as measured by per capita wage rates of our community and strives to create jobs at $45,000 annually or greater).
• Realizing its commercialization potential – The venture develops and launches innovative products and services regionally, nationally, or globally (outside of the local or traded area) leveraging intellectual property, trade secrets, or other unique proprietary advantages to de-risk its major venture challenges and obstacles.
• Diversifying our local/regional economy – The venture is committed to a promising cluster, targeted industry sector, or growth area that has a transformational impact on North Central Florida’s economic potential and growth. Some potential targeted industries include biotech, software, advanced manufacturing, AI, and deep tech to name a few.
• Obtaining outside funding – The venture is committed to raising outside non-dilutive funding, bootstrapping through customer acquisition, and/or investment capital to navigate and mitigate startup risks.
• Exiting the venture – Ventures funded by outside investment are  committed to achieving a liquidity event: strategic sale/merger, roll-up, sale to key employee(s) or IPO to fully realize and maximize its enterprise value.

The Founding Team embraces the following healthy entrepreneurial leadership practices:

• Engaging in effective mentorship – Founding teams with effective mentorship are known to grow faster and raise more outside funds than their non-mentored counterparts.
• Modeling higher levels of emotional Intelligence – Founding teams are self-aware, proactively seek out strategic advice and guidance, and are intellectually curious.
• Demonstrating grit – Founding teams are passionate, tenacious, empathetic, resilient, and contingent thinkers who are constantly learning, evolving, and adapting to various circumstances and environmental conditions.
• Advancing the entrepreneurial community – Founding team members aspire to a high bar of excellence and have a servant leadership approach to “paying it forward” by positively impacting and contributing to the betterment of all entrepreneurs (“ecosystem effect”).
• Achieving growth aspirations – Solo-founders rarely thrive. The average founding team today is approx. 2.8 FTE. Solo-founders need a team to build, grow, and scale. Only 0.7% of all ventures scale. Founding teams dream big, start small, and scale fast.

Contact us with any questions you may have.

Designate in the application either The Hub or Sid Martin Biotech. (This isn’t a final verdict; we’ll help guide you to the facility best for your company.) Be sure to note the Form Confirmation Number that appears when the application is completed. (You’ll include that number on the mailed check.)

Include the Form Confirmation Number on the check, and mail it to UF Innovate | The Hub, 747 SW 2nd Avenue | IMB #47, P.O. Box 115600, Gainesville, FL 32601.