Much like the university down the road from its Irvine office, it’s getting harder for applicants to get accepted to startup incubator EvoNexus.
The nonprofit technology startup incubator, which is backed in part by Newport Beach-based Irvine Co., has been in operation since 2009. It started with a San Diego location and then added a spot at UCI Research Park, the business park next to the campus of the University of California-Irvine.
Members of EvoNexus get access to capital and strategic partnerships, executive mentorship, as well as Class A office and dry-lab space.
EvoNexus said it has more than 190 companies in its portfolio; those firms have seen some $1.5 billion worth of funding deals and other outcomes.
The incubator has seen more companies move through its San Diego hub, but it’s looking to beef up its stable in Irvine. It aims to have 10 or so companies operating in the Orange County location at any given time, depending on the number of employees at each firm.
Earlier in its history, roughly one out of every 10 companies that applied to EvoNexus were accepted; more recently that figure has been trending closer to one in 20, according to Marco Thompson, a serial entrepreneur based in San Diego and a member of the EvoNexus selection committee.
Thompson spoke at a recent “deep dive” event for prospective applicants at the Irvine EvoNexus site, which is a 12,000-square-foot space within UCI Research Park’s startup-heavy Vine building owned by Irvine Co.
Nearly 40 budding entrepreneurs attended the event.
When it comes to accepting new companies, “the big question is: Can they raise a Series A [round of funding] in 18 months?” Thompson said.
Also important is that the chief executive makes the venture his or her full-time job, and that the startup company has at least two full-time people on board.
“If you can’t convince one other person to believe in your vision” and work with you, a startup is unlikely to attract investors down the road, Thompson said.
The application process involves “hundreds of hours” of due diligence by the selection committee and can last two to three months, Thompson said.
Most companies that are accepted remain at the incubator site for about two years. Every six months, the companies are evaluated to see if they’re staying on top of things.
Most companies “take 18 to 24 months to get to an inflection point,” Thompson said.
Irvine Co.—whose annual financial commitment to the incubator runs about $2.4 million—remains involved with many of the EvoNexus companies once they leave the Vine. More than half end up taking residence at other offices the landlord owns, according to Thompson.
The most recent company accepted to the Irvine EvoNexus site is orthodontic archwire designer Final Wires.
The company makes wires that are used for putting braces on patients.
Its precision-engineered products are based on 3D X-rays and dental scans of the patient, which results in “less work for the doctor, fewer visits for the patient, and more accurate results, for less cost than traditional treatment,” according to EvoNexus, which announced accepting the company last month.
