Helping Biotech Startups Grow

For more than 30 years, University of Wisconsin-Madison affiliate University Research Park has been a hotspot for innovation in engineering, computational and life sciences.

As your community energy company, MGE and its philanthropic arm, the MGE Foundation, are helping to advance the next generation of innovation by supporting Forward BIOLABS.

With the goal of helping life science startup companies succeed, the incubator on Madison's west side provides fully equipped and supported lab space that helps companies focus on their work. The model eliminates the need for these companies to lease, equip and operate their own labs.

"Startups can move so much more quickly with Forward BIOLABS' laboratories and supportive environment. These powerful tools enable early stage companies to operate efficiently while they advance cutting-edge technologies in areas like oncology, regenerative medicine and agriculture," Forward BIOLABS Co-founder Jessica Martin Eckerly stated.

In addition to the benefits of a turnkey, state-of-the-art lab space, Forward BIOLABS facilitates interactions between members, lab service providers, investors, industry and academia.

Advancing innovation, entrepreneurship for decades

A longtime partner in advancing innovation and entrepreneurship throughout the Madison area, MGE in 1989 partnered with University Research Park to establish the MGE Innovation Center to help early stage companies cultivate their technologies for real-world applications. The center is a hub for Wisconsin’s thriving biohealth industry, which is responsible for an estimated $48 billion in economic output and more than 100,000 jobs created in the state.

Beyond the numbers, supporting biotech and Forward BIOLABS means changing lives outside of the labs. From developing groundbreaking cell therapies to treat children with serious illnesses to manufacturing tissues for treating brain tumors and building better medical devices, the industry is poised to produce a wide array of next-generation healthcare solutions.