Launch Pad covered in OMMA Magazine
We’re thrilled that the positive press for the Launch Pad is already starting. Damien Lamanna called me up the other day excited that he had just read about us in the current issue of OMMA magazine.
The idea of incubating start-ups is catching on outside established tech centers like New York City, Austin and Boulder. Voodoo Ventures, an Internet development company in New Orleans, is preparing to open Launch Pad 2, which will rent office space and support services to local tech start-ups. The first Launch Pad, begun in late 2007, already houses the offices of Voodoo Ventures and several start-ups.
Voodoo founder Chris Schultz moved to New Orleans in 2002 partly for cheap office space for his various start-ups and consulting gigs. In a manner befitting the philosophy of incubators, the idea for Launch Pad was born during a conversation he had with another entrepreneur, a Tulane MBA student. Now, Schultz is using Launch Pad to help New Orleans grow post-Katrina by supporting its nascent high-tech industry.
“As challenging of a time as it is for the country, New Orleans — we sort of took our knock-out blow in 2005, and in a lot of ways, we feel like we’re further along the curve,” Schultz says.
Schultz plans to move the original Launch Pad, currently in an office building on St. Charles Street, into a much larger building this year. He envisions a loft-like space with modular offices so companies can choose to rent more than one unit.
Launch Pad 2 will be a purely pay-for-play environment, Schultz says. Start-ups will pay lease and membership fees, not a share in their future equity.
“The word is getting out. We’ve got about 20 people on the waiting list, so to speak — they’ve expressed interest and are sort of waiting for us to open the doors,” Schultz says. The environment in New Orleans is strong for start-ups like these, he adds. The tech community NetSquared opened a chapter in New Orleans last September. “In just six months, we’re now the sixth-largest [NetSquared] group in the country; we just passed Atlanta,” Schultz says. “There is a real sort of grassroots demand for this.”