Plug and Play Lifetech Announces Inaugural Batch of 12 Innovative Startups in Indianapolis

2025-10-22T13:44:50-04:00October 20, 2025|

This article was originally published by The AI Journal on October 20, 2025. Click here to read the original article. Plug and Play, the world's largest innovation platform, today announced the 12 companies selected for the inaugural batch of its Lifetech accelerator program in Indianapolis. The cohort draws from a global talent pool and represents startup companies from eight states and three countries. Over the next four months, these founders will collaborate with Plug and Play's Lifetech partners, including IU LAB, BioCrossroads, IU Health, and Indiana University, to accelerate the future of healthcare and life sciences. The program will culminate with an expo event in February 2026, at which the graduating startups will pitch their solutions to an audience of corporate executives, investors, industry leaders, and the community. "The IU LAB is proud to partner with Plug and Play, [...]

Conexus ‘Future Ready’ report highlights need for talent pipeline in Indiana manufacturing

2025-09-24T11:22:38-04:00September 24, 2025|

This article was originally published by Inside INdiana Business on September 2, 2025. Click here to read the original article. Driven by the growth of semiconductor production and buoyed by a diverse number of industries, leaders with Conexus Indiana say advanced manufacturing remains a cornerstone of the state’s economy. However, the initiative’s recent Future Ready report emphasizes the continued struggle to get Indiana’s labor force trained for the increasingly tech-based jobs that will be needed. The report projects the state could generate 178,000 new manufacturing and logistics jobs by 2033, though 85,000 of those are likely to go unfilled if workforce shortages persist. According to P.J. McGrew, senior vice president of talent strategy at Conexus, the key goal is to level up Indiana’s “tech-enabled” workforce. “Eight percent of our manufacturing workforce is around those tech-enabled occupations, compared to 10% nationally. How [...]

Indiana’s AI imperative: Building the nation’s most AI-ready economy

2025-07-30T10:19:39-04:00July 24, 2025|

This article was originally published by Inside Indiana Business on July 24, 2025. Click here to read the original release. Artificial intelligence (AI) is no longer a futuristic concept; it’s a present-day catalyst reshaping industries, economies, and the workforce at a rapid pace. For Indiana, a state with a rich legacy in manufacturing, logistics, and life sciences, embracing AI is more than an optional business strategy. It’s a necessity to remain competitive and ensure economic growth. The Economic Potential of AI According to McKinsey, generative AI could contribute between $2.6 trillion to $4.4 trillion annually to the global economy. AI has the potential to boost labor productivity by 0.1% to 0.6% annually through 2040, depending on how quickly it’s adopted and how workforce transitions are managed. Leveraging AI in Indiana can enhance productivity across core sectors. The state’s strong presence [...]

Business Equity chair says group’s overall mission hasn’t changed with political winds

2025-07-10T13:47:39-04:00July 10, 2025|

This release was originally published by IBJ on July 4, 2025. Click here to read the original release. In the wake of the 2020 protests after the murder of George Floyd by a Minneapolis police officer, Indianapolis business leaders committed to driving measurable progress in advancing racial equity in a group called Business Equity for Indy. Jeffrey Harrison, CEO of Citizens Energy Group, has served as that coalition’s leader since its founding. Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, Indy Chamber and the Indianapolis Urban League are partners in the work. BEI launched with 11 member companies; it now has 50. Each member has pledged to adopt at least one BEI recommendation or strategy, a list that includes participation in a modern apprenticeship program, certification as a company that pays more than $18 an hour with benefits, and implementation of best practices [...]

Gener8tor’s new Bolt conference set for Indianapolis this fall

2025-07-09T13:46:35-04:00July 9, 2025|

Originally posted by IBJ on June 13, 2025. Read original press release here. Wisconsin-based startup accelerator Gener8tor is shifting its conference strategy this year to hosting one large gathering in Indianapolis rather than a handful across the U.S., a move expected to expand networking opportunities among investors and entrepreneurs. The reimagined event, called Bolt, is set to take place Oct. 1-2 at Victory Field, bringing together founders, investors and corporations in a variety of industries from across the Midwest and beyond. The event replaces Gener8tor’s previous OnRamp conferences. OnRamp’s manufacturing and agriculture events had previously taken place in Indianapolis. Gener8tor’s other OnRamp events last year focused on insurance and financial technology, health care, and education and workforce development. Those gatherings took place in St. Paul, Minnesota; Birmingham, Alabama; and Minneapolis, respectively. “We decided to combine all of that power, all [...]

IU unveils architectural design plan for IU LAB at 16 Tech

2025-07-10T10:02:22-04:00June 13, 2025|

Originally posted by IBJ on June 12, 2025. Read original press release here. Indiana University said Thursday that its board of trustees has approved an architectural design plan for the IU Launch Accelerator for Biosciences, or IU LAB, building in the 16 Tech Innovation District in Indianapolis. The five-story, 150,000 square-foot building will be built next to the Herron School of Art and Design’s Eskenazi Fine Arts Center on Indiana Avenue. The facility will include research and teaching labs, classrooms, collaborative workspaces as well as startup and incubator space. In a news release, IU said IU LAB is place where “biosciences and technology converge, serving as a hub for discovery, innovation, entrepreneurship and industry partnerships.” Construction is scheduled to start this fall with an expected completion in summer 2027. IU LAB officially began operations in January. In December, IU announced [...]

Celebrating Connection: 16 Tech Bridge Opens to the Public

2025-05-22T15:11:45-04:00April 30, 2025|

Originally posted by 16 Tech on April 30, 2025. Read original press release here. Today, 16 Tech Community Corporation, alongside city leaders and community stakeholders, will celebrate the opening of the signature 16 Tech Bridge. Spanning 342 feet over Fall Creek, the bridge serves as a vital link between the 16 Tech Innovation District and Indianapolis’ research and medical corridor. To highlight the bridge’s multimodal and community-led design features, 16 Tech will welcome an Indy 500 Pace Car driven by Indy NXT driver Miles Rowe, the Riverside Riders local cycling group, and students and faculty from Indiana University Indianapolis and Purdue University in Indianapolis led by Sampson Levingston of Through2Eyes as the first to officially cross the bridge this afternoon. “The 16 Tech bridge was designed by the community, for the community — a physical and symbolic connection that [...]

IU LAB announces accelerator partnerships with Gener8tor, Plug and Play

2025-04-24T11:36:34-04:00April 24, 2025|

Originally Originally posted by IBJ on Thursday, April 24, 2025. Read original press release here. Indiana University’s Launch Accelerator for Biosciences, known as IU LAB, on Thursday announced partnerships with three organizations that will recruit and accelerate the growth of high-potential startups that can strengthen Indiana’s place as a leader in life sciences. Gener8tor, a Madison, Wisconsin-based startup accelerator, will run a pre-accelerator program for early-stage startups that have an idea but not yet a viable product. And San Jose, California-based venture capital firm Plug and Play and the Central Indiana Corporate Partnership will collaborate on an accelerator for startups that have a potentially viable product, have demonstrated initial market traction and are preparing for fundraising. In addition, IU LAB announced that its accelerator programs will now be called IU Health Incubator at IU LAB, thanks to a $4.5 million, [...]

With $138M grant from Lilly Endowment, IU launches initiative to accelerate bioscience innovation

2025-03-15T23:01:49-04:00December 12, 2024|

Read the IU News Press Release Funding will support IU LAB, a state-of-the-art facility at 16 Tech harnessing Indiana’s extensive resources to become national leader in bioscience discovery, commercialization, talent development INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana University will lead significant advances in human health and help make Indiana a global leader in bioscience innovation by establishing the IU Launch Accelerator for Biosciences, known as IU LAB, at the 16 Tech Innovation District in Indianapolis. The first-of-its-kind academic-industry initiative is supported by a $138 million Lilly Endowment Inc. grant to the IU Foundation — IU’s largest grant ever in support of research and development. In collaboration with some of the state’s key biosciences organizations — including IU, IU School of Medicine, 16 Tech, Central Indiana Corporate Partnership, BioCrossroads, Indiana Biosciences Research Institute, Regenstrief Institute and IU Health — IU LAB will drive [...]

Over $1 million in grants to start building new apprenticeship pathway

2025-01-07T11:48:01-05:00November 12, 2024|

Grants from the Fairbanks Foundation to fund formation of industry “talent associations” as critical step for new pathway’s goal of welcoming students as early as 2025-2026 school year INDIANAPOLIS – A new professional education and training pathway for Hoosiers rooted in a youth apprenticeship experience starting in high school is one step closer to reality. Today, the Richard M. Fairbanks Foundation announced over $1 million in grants to fund the next steps of the CEMETS iLab Indiana strategic plan to build a new path that could welcome students in at least one occupation as early as the 2025-2026 school year. The Fairbanks Foundation is awarding grants to two Indiana organizations to launch industry “talent associations,” which are organizations that enable employers within their industry to speak with one voice when it comes to their talent needs. The talent associations will [...]

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