Mayor Walsh celebrates the opening of the Roxbury Innovation Center

Mayor Martin J. Walsh yesterday celebrated the opening of the Roxbury Innovation Center in Dudley Square, which will serve as a unique collaboration among several partners to create a venue for experimentation, creative thinking and building community connections.   

"I want to bring the future economy to every Boston neighborhood," said Mayor Walsh. "The Roxbury Innovation Center will be a catalyst for economic development and lifting the entire community."   

Located in the Bolling Building, which opened this past spring and serves as the new Boston Public Schools headquarters, the Roxbury Innovation Center is 3,350 square feet of flexible event space, classroom-style training space and a creative technology lab.   

The Roxbury Innovation Center will support local economic development by encouraging innovation and entrepreneurship. The Venture Café Foundation will run the Roxbury Innovation Center as a mission-driven not-for-profit gathering and event space. The space is positioned as a local space that will be available for groups to provide programs that support innovators, entrepreneurs and business founders. In addition to working with many programming partners, including flagship programming partner, SkyLab, with their Educate-Activate-Incubate bootcamp approach-Venture Café also produces programming to activate the space and connect the innovation economy.  

"The Roxbury Innovation Center is meant to provide a supportive environment for local entrepreneurs to cultivate their concepts and then start their businesses. We want to increase access to resources and grow the social fabric that encourages founders in the Roxbury neighborhood to take risks and grow their big ideas," said Kevin Wiant, Executive Director of the Venture Café. "This is a highly collaborative project, and an experimental one. Entrepreneurs and innovators need lots of different types of resources to develop, support and scale their ideas. We're glad to be working with SkyLab, the Boston Public Schools, the City of Boston, and many local innovators to test out new ideas and maximize the impact potential of the Roxbury Innovation Center."  

The creative technology lab will house specialized technology and equipment including microelectronics, digital fabrication technologies (including 3D printing, laser cutting and CNC machining) and creative editing software.   

All groups interested in providing neighborhood-based programming designed to convene and develop local entrepreneurs and grow the community of innovators are encouraged to get in touch. The Innovation Center will be able to support networking events, workshops, hackathons and more.   

For more information and to book meeting or event space please visit www.roxburyinnovationcenter.org.    

The Venture Cafe Foundation  

The Venture Café Foundation's believes that every person with an idea should feel empowered to become a successful entrepreneur, no matter their background, origin, or education. The Venture Café's mission is to connect the innovation community, expand the definition of innovation, and build a more inclusive innovation economy. The Venture Café Foundation enhances and accelerates the innovation process through spaces, programs, and conversations for individuals and organizations to gather and build relationships.  Please visit our website for more information about our other programs. The Venture Café Foundation is incorporated as a Massachusetts Not-for-Profit Corporation and is a 501 (c) 3 company.