AUSTIN, Texas—The IC2 Institute (IC2) of The University of Texas at Austin has named Isaac Barchas director of the Austin Technology Incubator (ATI).
The technology startup incubation and acceleration program of IC2, ATI has helped start more than 150 technology companies since 1989.
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Isaac Barchas
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Barchas, who most recently spent more than eight years with McKinsey and Co. working extensively on private sector growth and performance initiatives and public sector economic development programs, will take over the position vacated by Dr. Joel Wiggins in August 2005.
Barchas will focus on developing the public/private partnerships necessary to support the expansion of ATI’s recently announced strategic initiatives. These initiatives are focused on incubation and acceleration of startups in industry sectors key to the future of the regional community and the expansion of global ties for the benefit of Central Texas companies and The University of Texas at Austin.
In addition, Barchas will work with Dr. Robert A. Peterson, director of research at the IC2 Institute, to manage ATI’s multinational economic development programs, including those under way in Poland and Mexico.
“We are delighted to bring Isaac on board to help us establish the public/private partnerships necessary to help grow and expand programs supporting our mission of creating wealth and prosperity in our communities through technology based entrepreneurship,” said Dr. John Sibley Butler, director of the IC2 Institute. “Isaac’s background in global management consulting and economic development brings the skills and experience needed to ensure that we not only develop the programs but that we deliver on them successfully.”
Barchas, who has lived in Austin for four years, said that ATI has played a key role in the economic development of Central Texas in the past 15 years through its service to start-up technology companies and the broader community.
“ATI has helped establish Central Texas as a vibrant and competitive technology hub,” he said. “It has also created unique opportunities for students and faculty at the University of Texas, acting as one of the very few successful ‘laboratories’ for applied, technology-driven entrepreneurship anywhere in the world.
“The accelerating pace of globalization and economic dynamism mean that these activities may be even more critical in the future. I hope to leverage the years of success and tradition at the IC2 Institute and the Austin Technology Incubator to rally our regional partners and work with them in a campaign to help ensure a prosperous future for Central Texas, and a position of true distinctiveness in applied entrepreneurship for The University of Texas at Austin, in this new era.”
Erin Defosse, who has served as acting director, will remain on board as ATI’s new director of technology sectors. His expanded responsibilities will include supervision of core ATI operations, selection and admission of startups companies, delivery of strategic consulting and mentoring services to ATI member companies and development of emerging technology initiatives and partnerships.
About the ATI
The ATI is a nonprofit technology business accelerator that harnesses local business, government and academic resources to provide strategic counsel, operational guidance and infrastructure support to early stage ventures in order to accelerate them transition into successful technology-based businesses.
ATI enables its members to successfully compete in the global marketplace by linking them with ATI’s worldwide network of industry leaders, experts from academia and professional service providers. ATI companies have raised more than $720 million in capital, generated more than $1.5 billion in revenue and created more than 10,000 total jobs. The ATI is a key program of the IC2 Institute at The University of Texas at Austin.
For more information visit the Austin Technology Incubator Web site.
About the IC2 Institute
The IC2 Institute (Innovation, Creativity and Capital) at The University of Texas at Austin is a globally recognized “think and do” research center whose mission is to engage in cutting-edge research that will enhance the solving of unstructured problems related to market economies, wealth creation, growth and prosperity through entrepreneurial activity and the commercialization of technological innovation. The institute carries out this mission through its primary applied research laboratory at the Austin Technology Incubator as well as through the Bureau of Business Research, its Global Commercialization Program, the Digital Media Collaboratory, the IC2 Fellows Network, Visiting Scholars and the Master of Science in Science and Technology Commercialization degree program.
For more information visit the IC2 Institute Web site.
