By Dan Domsic
Business incubator Launch Fishers continues to sign up new businesses and add sponsorships.
“I feel like we nailed it,” Launch Fishers Founder John Wechsler said of the space available for entrepreneurs to rent in the basement of the Fishers branch of the Hamilton East Public Library, 5 Municipal Dr.
Wechsler said the co-working space, which opened in November of last year, had 125 members, including memberships bought by sponsors and Town of Fishers employees.
Overall, he said almost 60 individual businesses have memberships at the space, which is a not-for-profit entity backed by the Town of Fishers. Soon, a census will be conducted to track exactly how the space and amenities are used by Launch’s members.
While software developers and tech industry members are the space’s bread and butter, Wechsler said other businesses, like a hot air balloon operator and future food truck owner, also were members.
“We are very close to organic sustainability,” Wechsler said.
Membership levels and other paid features, such as an enclave membership that costs an extra $150 per month on top of an annual fee, and sponsorships have put Launch Fishers in that position, he said.
Sponsors include Duke Energy, Blast Media, Barnes & Thornburg and Formstack, to name a few.
Other features soon will be coming to the venue. Launch’s coffee shop is near ready to start serving up caffeine to the entrepreneurs that frequent the 16,000 square-foot-space in the library.
Wechsler said other goals for Launch included adding amenities like broadcasting streaming content and news feeds on its multiple TV screens, building new booths designed for small meetings and converting space to serve as small conference rooms, a need Wechsler said wasn’t completely understood from the outset.
Accommodations for a dedicated workspace were made for one company, BlueBridge Digital, that Wechsler said grew too large for general membership needs.
“As best as we could, I think we hit the mark with delivering something people want,” he said.
For more information on Launch Fishers, visit www.launchfishers.com.