GazelleLab, a 9-month-old Irvine technology incubator, plans to relocate to larger quarters at the University Research Park and nearly double its staff to around 35 people.
“We want the research park because it is a core of high technology,” said Luis Villalobos, one of the founders of GazelleLab, which takes its name from the nimble deer-like animal from the African grasslands. “A lot is happening there. It becomes like Silicon Valley where you can start a company for lunch.”
Villalobos is also one of the founders of Tech Coast Angels, a group of Southland angel investors have invested in 50 deals worth $40 million in the two years it has been active.
GazelleLab is moving into 16,000 square feet of space at the research park adjacent to the University of California, Irvine, up from the 6,000 square feet it has at its office near John Wayne Airport.
University Research Park is a 2.4 million-square-foot facility that houses local operations of America Online Inc., AltaVista Co. Quantum Corp.’s ATL Products Inc. and Cisco Systems Inc.
“It is expensive. But it is worth it,” Villalobos said of GazelleLab’s new headquarters.
GazelleLab plans to move to its new offices “as soon as they have it ready,” Villalobos said. He expects to make the move at end of this month.
GazelleLab has six founders, all of which are seasoned private equity investors and entrepreneurs. The firm currently has about 20 employees.
The firm is searching for a chief technology officer to beef up its operations. The partner currently in charge of technolgy at GazelleLab is Frank Martinez, who Villalobos said is better at strategic planning than at the specific software technologies.
Finding qualified employees has been difficult lately because of the tight job market and employees with technical experience have become hard to find and even harder to attract.
“We thought it would be easy. The other spots were easily filled,” Villalobos said.
Like other incubators, GazelleLabs faces a changed climate. Industry leaders CMGI Inc. and Internet Capital Group Inc. have seen their shares plummet this year amid investor leeriness about technology start-ups.
Villalobos said he is aware of the problems facing incubators. The problem, he said, is some incubators have spread their resources too thinly among too many companies.
“They were darlings. But they were incubators on steroids and they started crashing,” Villalobos said.
Villalobos said GazelleLab is taking it easy and incubating only four or five companies at a time, dedicating at least one of its management team to each project. GazelleLab currently has three companies, or “gazelles” as Villalobos calls them, under its fold. He declined to name them.
Since starting GazelleLab, Villalobos said he’s slowed down his activity with Tech Coast Angels.
“I am nowhere as active as in the past,” Villalobos said.
He left the operation and his position as president last November to start up GazelleLab, though he still sits on Tech Coast Angels board and invests in portfolio companies. Villalobos said he previously led about one-third of Tech Coast’s fundings, but hasn’t led one in about a year. He mostly contributes by heading up workshops teaching investors how to value companies, execute proper due diligence and maintain good deal flow. n
