ATDC expands membership to more companies, consolidates staff

Research News

The Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC), one of the nation’s largest, longest running, and best-known university-based technology accelerators, is expanding its mission.

	Stephen Fleming

ATDC has been merged with Tech’s VentureLab and with the Georgia SBIR Assistance Program. By pooling resources, the new ATDC has increased the staff available to serve its expanded mission of helping Georgia entrepreneurs launch and build successful technology companies.

The change will allow ATDC to greatly extend its reach to serve more technology companies along multiple growth paths and at all stages of development.

Founded in 1980, ATDC has helped create millions of dollars in tax revenues by graduating more than 120 companies, which together have raised more than a billion dollars in outside financing.

ATDC, the former Georgia Tech VentureLab, and the SBIR Assistance program are part of the Enterprise Innovation Institute (EII) at Georgia Tech, which helps Georgia enterprises improve their competitiveness through the application of science, technology and innovation. Fleming, the former head of Georgia Tech VentureLab, was recently promoted to vice provost of Georgia Tech overseeing all of EII. He will serve as the initial director of the new ATDC.

“The startup market has changed over the past few years,” Fleming said. “Many startup companies do not want or need to pursue venture funding. Some are not even seeking traditional office space. ATDC’s new initiatives directly address the demands of today’s startup environment.”

ATDC will open its membership to all technology entrepreneurs in Georgia, from those at the earliest conception stage to the well-established, venture-fundable companies.

“We’re interested in any technology business opportunity,” said David Sung, one of ATDC’s startup catalysts and a former partner with H.I.G. Ventures. “There are many ways ATDC can help startups. We will support all entrepreneurs, whatever path they may take, through their entire growth process.”

ATDC will continue to offer traditional “bricks-and-mortar” incubation space on entrepreneur-friendly terms, both in midtown Atlanta and Savannah. Recognizing the sprawl of the Atlanta metro area, ATDC will offer programs outside the Perimeter where dense clusters of entrepreneurs can benefit from its services. Since 1999, the state-funded ATDC Seed Capital Fund has made equity investments in Georgia startup companies alongside angel investors and traditional venture firms. With this merger, ATDC will also manage the Georgia Tech Edison Fund, an innovative investment fund established in 2007 that draws its resources from charitable donors who are interested in helping expand the entrepreneurial ecosystem around the Institute.

The merger of the three units will bring together a broader knowledge base to provide comprehensive services to Georgia’s technology entrepreneurs.

“Despite the economic downturn, it’s still a great time to build a startup company in Georgia,” said Fleming. “The last four years have seen an explosion of groups and organizations supporting the early-stage entrepreneur. With this expansion, we’re rebooting the franchise of ATDC as the hub of technology entrepreneurship in Georgia. We hope to work with everyone, at any stage, along any path, to accelerate more technology startups and weave them into the economic fabric of Georgia.”

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