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Friday, Mar 29, 2024

Nonprofit Offers Startups Lab Space at Discount

Entrepreneurs with medical device startups will have a new place to go this summer when Lab Launch opens a location in Chatsworth. The economic development nonprofit, which operates lab space in Monrovia, has partnered with Make in L.A. to move into that hardware accelerator’s space in a project dubbed ToolboxL.A. that will give startups an opportunity to develop their products. Shaun Arora, a co-founder of Make in L.A., said that while the San Fernando Valley and, indeed, the Los Angeles area, has a strong presence with biotech firms, what have been missing was a central location where biotech startups could meet and work together and get other resources. Lab Launch Chief Executive Marie Rippen said her organization is currently talking with startups to gauge their interest in coming to Chatsworth. There have been inquiries from interested entrepreneurs coming out of UCLA and based on the west side of the city for whom going to Monrovia would be a far drive. “We are happy to do a soft opening for any company that is interested in the space,” Rippen said. The monthly cost for space at ToolboxL.A. ranges from $65 to $150. For those prices, the user gets Wi-fi access, use of desks and a choice of nine meeting rooms, dedicated lockers, use of the labs and free coffee and drinks. There is also a dedicated event space that can accommodate up to 250 people. “We have these resources that should attract some of the best of the best worldwide and give them a place to go when they are ready to leave the university system,” Arora said. Make in L.A. has been funded by NEO Tech, a Chatsworth microelectronic components for the defense and medical products markets. Arora’s father is chief executive at NEO Tech. With their facilities next to each other on Owensmouth Avenue, it is the intention of the younger Arora to use NEO Tech’s expertise in medical devices with the Lab Launch startups. “We are hoping to pull NeoTech into more projects,” Arora said. Lab Launch was founded by Llewellyn Cox and Ryan Bethencourt out of frustration that biotech startups would leave Los Angeles for Silicon Valley or San Diego because of a lack of lab space. The pair decided to start their own lab with Monrovia being the first of what may be a collection of labs throughout the region, Rippen said. Mobile Combat Hidden Variable Studios is branching into the mobile game space with its new title “Skullgirls.” The Glendale game developer has created mainly puzzle games up to now, with “Bag It” and “Tic Tactics” as its well-known titles based on original ideas. For Skullgirls, released this month, the studio is taking an existing fighting console game and bringing it to mobile devices. Nick Ahrens, executive producer at the company, said that while “Skullgirls” was a different type of game requiring a different skill set from the studio’s employees, they were confident Hidden Variable could make a good mobile fighting game. “It was going to be hard and it was going to be time-consuming, but it was a passion point for a lot of people on the team,” Ahrens said. Developed by Reverge Labs in 2012 and distributed originally for Sony Corp.’s PlayStation and Microsoft Corp.’s Xbox Live, the creative team behind the game would go on to start Lab Zero Games, in Los Angeles, and bring out a Windows version of “Skullgirls” in 2013. “Skullgirls” is a 2D game similar to “Mortal Kombat” and “Street Fighter.” The mobile version came to Hidden Variable through Charley Price, a co-founder and creative director of the studio. Lab Zero had been thinking of what more they could do with Skullgirls, including a mobile version or a puzzle game based on the concept, Ahrens said. “We were like, ‘No, no, we think we can do something cool,’” he explained. The studio worked on a prototype for about a year and then transitioned into a full development version. The entire process took about two and a half years to complete, Ahrens said. “We are using taps and swipes and two-finger input systems to boil that complex fighting system down into something a little bit easier,” he added. For its version, Hidden Variable has added a tactical strategy element in which players can discover backstories on game characters, upgrades for the fighters and collectible cards. “Skullgirls,” available for both Apple Inc. and Android devices, is just the first new game that Hidden Variable will release this year. Coming in a few months is “Up & Up,” inspired by an old arcade game called “Ice Cold Beer.” Ahrens said the company is also working on its first console game. Staff Reporter Mark R. Madler can be reached at (818) 316-3126 or [email protected].

Mark Madler
Mark Madler
Mark R. Madler covers aviation & aerospace, manufacturing, technology, automotive & transportation, media & entertainment and the Antelope Valley. He joined the company in February 2006. Madler previously worked as a reporter for the Burbank Leader. Before that, he was a reporter for the City News Bureau of Chicago and several daily newspapers in the suburban Chicago area. He has a bachelor’s of science degree in journalism from the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign.

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