[ibimage==39470==Large==none==self==null]With experience at the Pritzker Group, 1871, and Abbott, Steve Collens has been part of the prescription for developing a hub for innovators in the health-tech industry. Now, he’s taking the helm as the new CEO for Matter, the incubator set to open in early 2015.
He’s been involved with the initiative since the beginning, when ChicagoNEXT, the mayor’s council on innovative tech, started planning an incubator similar to 1871 about 18 months ago. The focus for the incubator was not just on new ideas and tech – but also on solutions for the healthcare industry.
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“The opportunity is huge,” Collens said, citing the presence of leading research institutions, healthcare companies, and medical associations, as well as an “interesting, dynamic” startup community. “But there’s no common meeting ground where they can all interact and work together. So the opportunity with Matter is to build that place and connect all of the pieces and accelerate the growth of next-gen health tech.”
To foster that connection, Collens is drawing on his experience on the team charged with forming 1871 as well as his time as the director of Public Affairs at Abbott International. But he’s only one part of the incubator—the others are made up of the ideas and the startups themselves, and the 200 people that Matter will provide a workspace for.
Applicants are encouraged to apply by November 15 to take advantage of a 50 percent discount on membership fees for the first four months, but applications are being considered on a rolling basis. Collens outlined three components to what the team at Matter is considering in a startup's application:
1) Does your service or product deal with healthcare? You can apply.
“We’re looking for the best early-stage companies that are developing cool products and technologies in healthcare,” Collens said. “They could be software companies, they could be medical device companies, diagnostics, or biopharma—as long as they are building a technology company in the healthcare arena, they’re potentially a good fit.”
2) Experience with successful companies is a plus.
“We’re looking for great entrepreneurs who have a sense of what the opportunity is that they’re pursuing and a good sense of the market,” he said.
3) No selfishness allowed.
Collens said the team is interested in those “who can both benefit from being a part of the Matter community and give back to the Matter community. What we’re building is is really first and foremost a community.”
