Cambridge Innovation Center Closes $58 Million from HB Reavis

March 15, 2018 |

6 min read

CIC Partners with HB Reavis, Europe’s Leading Innovative Workplace Provider, for Its Forthcoming 145K Square Foot Innovation Campus in Warsaw, Poland

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cambridge Innovation Center (CIC) announced today that it has closed a $58 Million equity investment from European partner HB Reavis. CIC will use the proceeds to expand its network of science and technology innovation campuses throughout the world. CIC campuses are densely concentrated facilities comprised of startups, corporate innovation spin-outs and venture capital funds. They include workspace, laboratories and specialized industry “hubs” that gather the strongest innovators in the key local industries.

As part of this financing, CIC also announced today that it will be opening a 145,000 square foot innovation campus in the heart of Warsaw, Poland in 2020. The country currently boasts the longest continuous economic growth of any European country, and CIC is working with local organizations to build specialized hubs focusing on the energy, biotech, digital and new materials sectors. The CIC Campus will be located in its partner HB Reavis’ new complex, called “Varso Place,” that is currently under construction next to Warsaw Central Railway Station. When completed, Varso Place will be more than 1.4 million square feet and feature the tallest tower in the European Union.

“Our alliance with Cambridge Innovation Center directly supports our strategy of partnering with the best innovation and workspace specialists in the world to provide outstanding workplace solutions for businesses of all sizes,” said Marian Herman, CEO of HB Reavis. “CIC and its world-class team complement our existing portfolio perfectly. We’re looking forward to launching CIC Warsaw as our first of many projects together that are designed to engage entrepreneurial ecosystems and establish innovation campuses throughout Europe.”

Local Focus, Global Impact

CIC currently operates innovation campuses across the U.S. in Cambridge, Boston, St. Louis and Miami, and internationally in Rotterdam, Netherlands, and is working to open facilities in Philadelphia, Providence, Dublin and Tokyo -- with over one million square feet under lease. CIC intends to build campuses in 50 innovation cities throughout the world.

“Partnering with HB Reavis, a strategic investor that is at the forefront of commercial real estate, enables us to dramatically accelerate the expansion of our global network of innovation campuses, including our upcoming launch in Poland. These funds also bolster our ability to attract top talent as we grow our executive leadership team to manage this next phase of growth,” stated CIC’s Founder and CEO Tim Rowe. “Our work growing innovation ecosystems is exactly what a city like Warsaw needs right now. Marian and his team at HB Reavis instantly understood that, and we’re excited to work with everyone involved to strategically strengthen several sectors and help Poland establish a stronger economic position as part of the global innovation community.”

Throughout its history, CIC has supported nearly 5,000 startups and growing technology companies. Other near-term expansions include:

In May this year in St. Louis, CIC will expand its footprint with an additional building, bringing its St. Louis footprint to 160,000 square feet.
In October, CIC will open a 90,000 square feet expansion next to MIT in the former Microsoft space at 255 Main St. in Kendall Square, bringing the footprint of CIC and its affiliates in the Boston/Cambridge area to 450,000 square feet.
Also in October, CIC will open a 135,000 square foot center at uCity Square in Philadelphia, including office and lab facilities, in partnership with University City Science Center.
In Q2 2019 in Providence, Rhode Island, CIC and its partner, Wexford Science + Technology, will open an innovation complex together with Brown University in the Jewelry District, funded by a $36M grant from the State of Rhode Island.

Noted urbanist Bruce Katz, co-author of the Brookings Institution’s Rise of the Innovation District and The New Localism comments: “Municipal and national leaders across the world are intensely focused on leveraging the distinctive innovation economies and communities of their cities. I know of no other organization focused on fostering innovation districts that has CIC’s innovation depth, scale, economic impact and international network.”

About HB Reavis
HB Reavis’ mission is to bring remarkable experiences to people’s lives through our real estate solutions.

The people who experience our developments are our main focus – our aim is to deliver great spaces that enhance productivity, well-being and overall experience for those that use them as well as the surrounding communities. As an integrated pan-European developer we design, build and manage our buildings; we also act as investment manager and manage spaces for co-working. We operate in the UK, Poland, the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Hungary while exploring development opportunities in Germany.

Since HB Reavis was founded in 1993 we have successfully delivered more than 10.7 million sq ft of commercial space. We have further developments in the pipeline totalling more than 12 million sq ft, with planned value of $7.8 billion. Eleven schemes are currently under construction, with a leasable area totalling 4.8 million sq ft and value of $2.5 billion.

With capital exceeding $1.5 billion and staff of 700 people, we’re proud to say that HB Reavis is among the European market leaders in real estate.

The exceptionally high standards we set in terms of development quality and sustainability have been recognised internationally with a series of awards, including “Best Employer in Poland” awarded in 2016 by AON Hewitt, “Best European Office Developer 2016" in the World Finance awards, “Office Developer” in Annual CEE Investment Awards 2017 by EuropaProperty and “Global Real Estate Investor of the Year” by Estates Gazette Awards 2017 in the United Kingdom.

More details at http://www.hbreavis.com

About CIC
Founded in 1999 and headquartered Cambridge, Mass, CIC builds and operates innovation campuses. CIC and its family of affiliated organizations, including LabCentral and MassRobotics, provide innovators with high-end science and technology shared infrastructure including offices, biotech laboratories and robotics development centers. Venture Cafe, the CIC’s fast-growing global network of non-profit innovation ecosystem-building organizations, has hosted over a quarter of a million people in its programs across six cities on three continents. It is opening in several additional cities in 2018.

CIC’s mission is to create innovation communities that support impactful entrepreneurs to “fix the world”. CIC has supported nearly 5,000 startup companies since inception, with publicly announced transactions worth a combined $10 billion in venture capital investment and M&A exit value. A number of top-flight technology companies, including Apple, Google (Android), Facebook, Twitter, Amazon, Shell, Hubspot, and Boeing have located key initiatives within CIC’s campuses. CIC also houses innovation globalization programs for more than a dozen governments including the Netherlands, Germany, Japan, Canada and China.

Over the next 10 years CIC plans to grow its network of innovation hubs to 50 leading cities around the world. More info at www.cic.com.