Meet The Founder

Last week, we launched our very first newsletter and invited you to join us Sep 19th for an info webinar to learn how YOU can get involved at Forge.

Check it out and register here, if you missed it! 

This week, our newly hired Incubator Services Coordinator, Anna Darian (you’ll meet her next week!), sat down with Forge founder, Brian Ellerman, to ask a few questions about his plans with the new University of Arizona (UA) unit Forge. 

With over 25 years of industry experience, Brian Ellerman comes to UA having spent the last 15 years at Sanofi, a Global 500 biopharmaceutical company, where he held numerous roles from site head overseeing the technical construction aspects of a 110,000 square foot drug research and high-performance computing center to digital health partnering and corporate strategy. In 2013, he created the technology scouting and partnering group within R&D and spent the next three years traveling the world to connect the top incubators, accelerators, startups, and venture firms to critical business problems.  

A: What gave you the idea to build Forge? 

B: I led corporate innovation all over the world professionally and was an active angel investor personally for a number of years, but back at home in Tucson found that most startup teams had really good ideas but were ultimately unprepared for the challenges of bringing their concept to market or approach investors for fundraising. I heard comments from fellow investors elsewhere to the same effect. 

While I’ve been active in working with UA for 15 years, it was primarily as a volunteer advisor, such as with Tech Launch Arizona’s Commercialization Partners program. In 2017, Tucson Mayor Jonathan Rothschild approached me about health technology and innovation, and we organized a digital health summit with Southern Arizona Leadership Council that Fall. That led to a discussion with Eller Dean Paulo Goes about creating a digital health incubator. Around the same time, Joaquin Ruiz at Biosphere 2 was contemplating a sustainability incubator. The two things came together with help from Fletcher McCusker at Rio Nuevo and UA President Robert Robbins. 

A: Where did the “Forge” name come from?  

B: In the same way that the model serves many purposes, Forge has multiple meanings. 

I really like the metaphor of a forge. There's an expression that the finest steel has to go through the hottest fire, and here we're subjecting innovative ideas and people to a rigorous incubator curriculum, business innovation leaders, collaborative classrooms, community space, and much more.

"The imagery of things taking shape through heat and intensity is the perfect way to describe what we're building."

And with this cross-section -- students, startups, corporations, academic faculty, investors, and nonprofits -- powerful relationships and new directions will be forged. Forge ahead. It's just the perfect word. 

A: Why was the Roy Place building in Downtown Tucson selected as the first Forge location? 

B: Place matters. Downtown Tucson has seen so much dynamic growth in recent years, it made perfect sense as the first location. The historic Roy Place Building is owned by Pima County and they have been invaluable partners throughout this process.

"They understand that emerging industries, startups, and incubators serve as organic contributors to innovation and job growth."

This project has really shown me their commitment to economic development as Forge will be transforming intellectual property coming out of the University of Arizona into employment opportunities in the region. 

A: Many startups have told me that lack of funding is their primary challenge to business growth, will Forge be helping to bridge this gap? 

B: The truth is, for startups who are ready, the funding is out there. I’ve been active in the startup community for years, with over 100 angel investments and advisory roles globally. For startups who are wanting to scale through a venture-backed model, investors are ready, and we have the network to make those introductions.

"The way Forge is truly bridging this gap is with a rigorous and robust service-focused program."  

We will surround startups with a customized team of global industry experts who provide the knowledgeable mentorship and market validation that will separate ideas from profitable businesses.

It’s in validation that the vast majority of startups fail, so here we’re really going after a core component and building investment-readiness.  

A: What are you most excited about personally? 

B: The Forge model is quite unique. It combines startup incubation with corporation innovation and experiential education for students, all in the same place.

"It combines all the things I'm so passionate about: innovation, real-world experience, and entrepreneurship."

The Forge at Roy Place will focus on digital health and sustainability, with an eye toward artificial intelligence and data analytics. If you’ve read ‘Thank You for Being Late’ by Thomas Friedman, you’d understand that in a Fourth Industrial Revolution world the decisions we make in one area can have major consequences in another, and technology only accelerates this. It requires systems-level thinking. Forge takes that system-level thinking and seeks technological opportunities to spur lasting business innovation in ways that could impact whole populations.