Chicago health tech hub accepting applications, names leaders

By Ellen Jean Hirst

Matter, a not-for-profit health tech hub in downtown Chicago slated to open in early 2015, on Tuesday named a chief executive and said it's taking applications for new tenants.

“What's been missing here in this (health technology) community is a common meeting ground, the place where all the members of the health technology ecosystem can come together, where they can collide,'' said Steven Collens, Matter's new chief executive.

Inside the unfinished, chalky space with exposed air ducts and bare dry wall on Tuesday, Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, echoed by Gov. Pat Quinn in a statement, said the venture in the high-growth field of medical and health care technology will spark innovation and create jobs in the city and state.

“Matter will be for health sciences what 1871 has been for the digital economy in Chicago,” Emanuel said. He said the space is intended for health care entrepreneurs who have “outgrown the kitchen table, but (have) not yet had their own shop.”

The 25,000-square-foot co-working space for medical device, biopharma and information technology startups is next to 1871, Chicago's 2-year-old digital tech incubator, on the 12th floor of the Merchandise Mart. It's state funded with a $2.5 million grant and a $1.5 million loan, which Matter plans to leverage to obtain additional funding from businesses.

“One thing we know about innovators is they thrive in dense environments,'' said Collens, who helped launch 1871 and previously spent a decade with Abbott Laboratories involved in product marketing and public affairs. “Their odds of success go up when they can connect with each other,'' he added.

ChicagoNEXT, Emanuel's council on technology and innovation along with its Chairman J.B. Pritzker, helped develop the business model for Matter. Architecture firm Gensler designed the facility. Design and consulting firm Ideo helped come up with the name, Matter, which has a dual meaning:

“Matter by definition scientifically is the forming of diverse spaces,” said co-founder and board member David Schonthal. “We also expect that it will have significance (that it will matter) to people.”

Chicago has a $50.4 billion medical technology industry, which includes 91 hospitals, six medical schools, more than 500,000 medical technology-related jobs and nearly 60,000 students studying a related field at local universities, according to the mayor's office.

Local Chicago companies in pharma and medical equipment manufacturing include Abbott Laboratories, AbbVie, Hospira, Baxter International and Takeda Pharmaceuticals. The area is also home to federal research labs Argonne and Fermilab.