The University of California, Davis in Chile ( UC Davis Chile) and STGO LabSpace joined forces to create "Research to Business Catalyst" ( R2B Catalyst ), the first Hub that aims to support the development of scientific and technological products that are "Made in Chile " and its effective position in the market. The company will have a number of centers in Santiago and the south of the country. Its headquarters, UC Davis LabSpace, will begin operations in early 2016 .

The centers, in addition to having the latest equipment that allow for the maturation of technologies, development and scaling of products, will count on an associated regulatory team to advise on diverse topics, as legal corporate aspects and the formation of technology-based start-ups, formulating business plans and models, domestic and international marketing networks and access to venture capitalists .

Catalyst R2M already has two achievements. It was recently awarded a $100 million Chilean pesos ($150,000 US dollars) from the fund for Special Projects for the Improvement of the the Entrepreneurial Ecosystem of CORFO, which will finance part of the installation of UC Davis LabSpace. The total investment of this center, which -will occupy 300 sq.m- will be around the $1 million and will be located adjacent to the corporate offices of UC Davis Chile, in the commune of Providencia. The center will concentrate on developments in biotechnology, the food industry, aquaculture and nanotechnology.

CORFO's line of co-work is supporting the installation of another center in Puerto Montt, Patagonia LabSpace, which begins its trial-run in November. Facilities at this 600 sq meter laboratory, with greater capabilities than its counterpart in Santiago, will allow the scaling of products. Its focus will be projects in areas relevant to the Chilean south, such as aquaculture, livestock and agriculture. 

Pablo A. Zamora, Chief Science Officer of UC Davis Chile, commented on the synergy of the partnership: "STGO LabSpace has networks with new generations of researchers and the national innovation ecosystem. UC Davis has experience in various programs that link university research with the industry, as the Venture Catalyst, which facilitates the 'traslational' research impressing the development of new ventures". He added that UC Davis Chile is the institution that links Chile with the wide variety of system capabilities of the University of California and has extensive scientific, technical and entrepeneurship knowledge in intellectual property and technology transfer.

Ignacio Brescia, Co-founder and CEO of STGO Labspace, added: "We will deliver advice to enterprises to guide research and development to generate products with high market potential and find the best strategy to put them quickly in the market. We hope to add other institutions to create an ecosystem of specialized actors." Javier Ramirez, Chief Business Development Officer at UC Davis Chile, revealed that for the operation of the center they are already handling agreements with two investment funds to give sustenance and potentialize businesses to incubate. He said that "this space is not only going to serve start-ups in Chile, but also to those in California who plan to expand in the region, since they will have a place in this new center."

ABOUT STGO LabSpace
Since the beginning of its operations in January 2015, STGO LabSpace has received 35 scientific projects, assisting in raising capital to 19 of them. Two of these initiatives are already in their sales stage. STGO LabSpace collaborates with Start-Up Chile and Austral Incuba, two of the main actors for promoting entrepreneurship in science and technology nationwide. More information at : www.stgolabspace.com

ABOUT THE UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, DAVIS IN CHILE 
After more than 50 years of collaboration between Chile and UC Davis, UC Davis Chile is the first step in the internationalization of this university, ranking No. 1 in the areas of agronomy, forestry and veterinary. It counts on the support of the Program for the Attraction of International Centres of Excellence of CORFO. In its first stage, UC Davis Chile is focused on adaptation to climate change, post-harvest technology, genetic improvement, and viticulture and enology. Its founding partners are the Universities of Tarapacá, Andrés Bello and Talca along with Concha y Toro and VSPT vineyards. More information www.ucdavischile.org