PerBlue, in current offices above, will have space to expand when StartingBlock opens late next year.
UW-Madison graduates Justin Beck and Forrest Woolworth worked out of Beck’s 700-square-foot college apartment for two years after founding PerBlue, a mobile and social gaming company.
The business launched in 2008 — a few years before Madison’s startup scene began booming. At that time, there were no coworking spaces, no truly tech-focused business incubators and few spaces where young tech entrepreneurs could connect with mentors, Woolworth says.
As the company grew, PerBlue experienced “early-stage office space issues,” moving its headquarters five times by 2014 as the company’s needs evolved. Now, boasting about 30 employees and a portfolio of games played by more than 10 million people, PerBlue is preparing to move again — this time into the new StartingBlock Madison entrepreneurial hub slated to open on East Washington Avenue next winter.
PerBlue will serve as an anchor tenant in the 50,000-square-foot space along with other previously announced tenants, including apartment searching service Abodo, data reporting and analytics software company Beekeeper Data, “Internet of Things” company MobileIgniter and weightlifting wearable tech company WeightUp Solutions. Fledgling health care IT company Redox Engine is also planning to move into StartingBlock.
Woolworth says “things would have been a lot different” for PerBlue if StartingBlock had existed back in 2008. “It potentially would have accelerated our growth and company.”
“This is something that will take the startup community to the next level,” Woolworth says of the project. “It’s definitely an exciting piece of long-term infrastructure that we can build off of and a really compelling anchor in keeping tech [companies] here in Madison.”
StartingBlock will cater to high-growth companies — dynamic startups that require flexible leases and office space as they add employees and evolve operations. In addition to the tech startup office spaces, StartingBlock will also house “makerspace” Sector67; gener8or, a startup accelerator; and industry group Capital Entrepreneurs.
“It very much runs the gamut who’s coming into the space,” StartingBlock executive director Scott Resnick says. “Some of these companies range from an individual who is essentially moving from their garage into StartingBlock to a full-fledged company with 30 to 35 employees.”
Construction has yet to begin, and more than a year remains before StartingBlock opens, but those involved with the project are already heralding it as an important catalyst to further develop and strengthen the Madison tech startup community.
“We’ve received a tremendous amount of support,” Resnick says. “The real grassroots effort is from the entrepreneurs who are choosing to reside in this community.”
Especially in light of Oscar Mayer’s impending closure, local tech companies are excited about the opening of StartingBlock, saying that the project represents a bright business future — one that promotes technology, innovation and collaboration in an effort to secure Madison as a hub for startups.
“This is the rebirth of the Madison business community,” Resnick says.
StartingBlock is not yet at capacity, but already buzz is building among the current and prospective tenants.
Beekeeper Data graduated from the gener8or program in 2014 and on Nov. 9 made its software available to the public after a successful beta trial with four local partners, including future StartingBlock tenant Adobo.
Beekeeper CEO Matthew Rathbone is excited about forging potential partnerships with the other startups moving into StartingBlock. But he says “the biggest advantage is being able to have conversations and really figure out ways to solve problems.”
“There’s a tremendous amount of knowledge [among] all the entrepreneurs,” he says.
Redox Engine, a company whose technology helps integrate electronic health records, has not yet signed on as a StartingBlock tenant but is “definitely interested,” says Luke Bonney, company co-founder.
“It feels like StartingBlock has an opportunity to be a core partner within the [tech startup] ecosystem in Madison,” Bonney says. “Because of that, it almost felt like we’d be missing out on cool stuff if we didn’t have some sort of opportunity to be in the space.”
After less than a year in business, Redox Engine already has 10 employees and recently secured $3.5 million in its latest round of fundraising. Based on this trajectory, the company “could double the size of [its] staff in the next 12 months,” Bonney says, making the flexibility of StartingBlock’s office space leasing terms and the space itself particularly appealing.
“When I sat down and talked to Scott [Resnick], I really felt like I was talking to a peer who understood what it was like to be nervous about signing a five-year lease,” Bonney says.
GrocerKey, a Madison-based company that makes an on-demand grocery ordering app, graduated from the gener8or startup accelerator in May and has been working from the gener8or offices for the last six months.
The company, which has grown to 25 employees, recently signed a year lease for an office space on the Capitol Square but is excited to move into StartingBlock when the building is complete, says CEO Jeremy Neren.
“I gain inspiration just being around other entrepreneurs,” says Neren, a UW-Madison graduate. “There’s a certain energy when you’re around other companies in the same place as you.”
