LaunchPad to open fifth location at NYIT campus

LaunchPad, a co-working space for startup companies on Long Island, has opened its fifth location at the New York Institute of Technology's Old Westbury campus, according to a news release.

Andrew S. Hazen, co-founder and chief executive of Hicksville-based LaunchPad, said unlike the other four locations on the Island, the LaunchPad NYIT facility "has more of a focus," and will give both student entrepreneurs and those outside the school a place to collaborate.

"We want to be selective on who's coming in," said Hazen, whose company has LaunchPads in Huntington, Mineola, Great Neck, and at Stony Brook University.

The new location, which will be housed within the school's newly renovated 8,000-square-foot Entrepreneurship and Technology Innovation Center, will focus on Internet technology and cybersecurity, bioengineering and medical devices, and energy and green technology.

"Students and companies will be working side by side," said Nada Anid, dean of the School of Engineering and Computing Sciences at NYIT. "It's a variation on what a business accelerator looks like."

NYIT will oversee the day-to-day operations of the LaunchPad site, and participating companies will sign renewable 6-month usage agreements.

LaunchPad NYIT can accommodate 10 companies, and will offer resident businesses access to school faculty members, laboratories and other campus technology. Startups will also have access to a 100-seat "smart" auditorium, Anid said.

Events at the new LaunchPad location, including networking gatherings, product pitch nights and speed mentoring sessions, are expected to begin sometime next month.