Case-style startup hub
Offering wet labs and comradery, a landmark building is being transformed into a science-friendly business accelerator
The 11000 Cedar Startup Incubator with Sears think[box] in the background.
The first gathering of tenants at the 11000 Cedar Startup Incubator, in spring 2023, barely qualified as the happy hour it was billed.
Director Andrew Cornwell, MS ’06, PhD ’12, and his colleague, Stephen Fening, invited tenants to what they imagined would be a lively, welcoming social, only to learn that in reality, they’d simply called a meeting.
“Everyone was dead quiet,” said Fening, associate vice president for research at CWRU. “They’d never even met each other. It was not what you would see in a thriving ecosystem.”
Were Cornwell and Fening to organize a similar gathering today, they’d get the interaction they wanted. Indeed, the most recent convocation was a spirited success, a boisterous event that spilled into a second room.
At this point, the incubator — the first of its kind in the region — is fostering a growing sense of community among its tenants. They’re getting to know each other, sharing space and equipment, and beginning to build the kind of collaborative and productive scientific community the designers envisioned. Thanks to regular infusions of new tenants, the incubator is growing and new technologies are percolating. In March, 27 companies, or “members,” called the incubator home. Meanwhile, the building is undergoing renovations to keep up with demand.
“It’s emblematic of the cultural shift we’re starting to see,” Cornwell said. “Our hope is to function as a model incubator.” In many ways, 11000 Cedar is already doing just that.
HIGHLIGHTS OF 1100 CEDAR
• Largest science incubator in Northeast Ohio
• Room for 30 companies initially, 70 eventually
• Adjacent to Case Western Reserve University
• Access to scientific equipment on campus
• 30,000 square feet of wet lab space
Andrew Cornwell
New day for a landmark building
The incubator occupies the former home of BioEnterprise, a 20-year-old biotechnology accelerator that ceased operations in 2023. CWRU took control of the four-story, 80,000 square-foot building at the base of Cedar Hill. It once housed Case Institute of Technology’s first computer and still contains the university archives. There was room for much more.
Michael Oakes, Senior Vice President for Research and Technology Management at CWRU, saw a place to add another dimension to the university’s research enterprise: A Case-style startup hub.
The Interdisciplinary Science and Engineering Building will become a place of research and discovery when it opens in 2026. Researchers can prototype products and devices at Sears think[box] just up the Quad. What was needed, Oakes believed, was a place to launch companies that sprang from the innovations.
“The pieces fit together,” he said. “We’re building a mini ecosystem for discovery, prototyping, and commercialization on this campus. It’s a pretty transformative moment for Case.”
The transformation of 11000 Cedar will help create the largest startup hub of its kind in Northeast Ohio and, university officials hope, an economic engine that spins off companies and jobs.
Oakes and his team surveyed other university-based incubators — from Boston to Berkley — seeking not only best practices but also ways to set 11000 Cedar apart from its peers.
Tenants – who are working in healthcare, clean energy, advanced manufacturing, and other fields – rent anything from a lab bench or cubicle to a fully equipped office or suite. Companies are slotted into “wet” or “dry” labs, depending on the nature of their work. Wet space — labs where drugs, chemicals, and biological matter can be analyzed and tested using liquids — are in particularly high demand in Greater Cleveland.
Some machinery is shared, like centrifuges, shakers, scales, and balances. Members, as the tenants are called, also have access to larger or more specialized equipment, like electron microscopes, on campus though CWRU’s extensive network of core services. Meanwhile, measures are in place to avoid renting to competing enter-prises and to protect intellectual property.
Kyle Golobish at work on a nerve stimulator at Neuronoff Inc.
"We’re building a mini ecosystem for discovery, prototyping, and commercialization on this campus. It’s a pretty transformative moment for Case."
Resources and kindred spirits
Neuronoff Inc. is one of the oldest companies in the building, tracing to its BioEnterprise days, and offers insight into what a scientific startup can expect in the new hub. The medical device company was co-founded eight years ago by Andrew Shoffstall, PhD ’13, an assistant professor of biomedical engineering in the Case School of Engineering. It’s developing an easy-to-use nerve stimulator for pain relief. Its slogan: “Relief Simplified.”
In a mid-sized wet lab on the first floor, the company conducts research, manufactures prototypes, and prepares for clinical trials. The staff, peppered with Case talent, includes Kyle Golobish ’23, who started as an intern. Now a senior design engineer, Golobish has access to resources most startups can only dream of. That’s because he can trot over to Case Quad to use sophisticated measuring machines or visit Sears think[box] to fabricate a device.
“We have the ability to access some really expensive equipment that we would not be able to afford otherwise,” he said.
For a young engineer, the setting offers both scientific resources and a startup vibe.
“I love it here,” Golobish said.
The price is also a lure. Cornwell said rent at 11000 Cedar is roughly 30 percent of the cost of similar facilities in Boston, Philadelphia, or San Francisco. Moreover, it comes with parking, marketing, and access to the minds and ready-to-hire graduates at Case.
Torn between, say, a coastal city and Cleveland, some entrepreneurs are finding it more affordable to work and expand in the upper Midwest. XHG is an example. Last year, the young maker of medical diagnostic tools moved from Miami to 11000 Cedar, resettling in a large, bright lab overlooking Cedar Road.
“There’s a lot of resources here,” said Lindsay Sulzer, the company CEO. “It’s working out well for us.”
Kevin Jones, the company’s chief science officer and a native of Wales, marveled at the access to research talent and world-class hospitals.
“It’s an amazing location,” he said. “For a medical company, what more can you ask for?”
"We have the ability to access some really expensive equipment that we would not be able to afford otherwise."
The 3rd floor was renovated for the Human Fusions Institute and is seen as a model for the lower floors.
Scientist Halie Harper conducts an experiment at XHG, a medtech startup that recently moved here from Miami.
Nurturing a culture
For all its practical and technological amenities, what really sets 11000 Cedar apart is its communal nature. Tenants are encouraged to interact, to share stories and inspiration, if not specific concepts.
Professional development and networking opportunities include reg-ular “Lunch and Learn” sessions in a communal conference room. One recent gathering explored challenges unique to life-science startups.
On the incubator’s third floor — recently renovated — researchers work in private, high-tech labs or offices but dine in a common food court. Cornwell likened the space to a modern scholarly club, an informal venue for conversation and sharing ideas.
This floor is currently home to the Human Fusions Institute, led by Dustin Tyler, a Case professor of biomedical engineering who is pioneering smart prosthetics. Oakes said he expects the Institute, one of the school’s premier research groups, to move into ISEB when it opens, freeing the space for new startups.
The first and second floors still await renovation while the fourth floor is being prepared for “anchor tenants,” companies
that can afford longer-term leases and want to stay in the ecosystem.
“People are choosing not to work at home,” Fening said. “They’re choosing to work here. There’s something about going to work, meeting people. So much of this is a human interaction thing. We talk about inducing collisions. It’s the culture that makes or breaks this stuff.”
Culture is also front of mind for Oakes, but on a grander scale. In collaboration with city, county, and state officials, he’s aiming to build on Greater Cleveland’s status as a medical innovation hub and position the incubator at its heart.
For that reason, CWRU claims no equity in incubator businesses. Beyond the success of any individual startup or line of work, the university’s overarching goal is to recruit top faculty and students and keep them in Northeast Ohio. As Oakes sees it, what’s good for a startup and the incubator is ultimately good for CWRU and the region.
“Everybody we talk to is like, ‘When can I get in there?,’” Oakes said. “The demand is massive, even without finishing the renovation. All the early indicators are that this is going to be a massive success.”
Zachary Lewis is the Communications Manager for the Cleveland Institute of Music. To comment on this story, please email casealum@casealum.org.
There’s something about going to work, meeting people. So much of this is a human interactive thing. We talk about inducing collisions
How do I join?
11000 Cedar uses a membership model. Each member gets a physical mailing address and access to shared facilities, then selects from a suite of additional resources, including offices or specialized labs. Learn more at case.edu/cedar-incubator/.
For information on different membership types and their monthly rates, email Andrew Cornwell at startups@case.edu
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