MP visits Change Makers entrepreneur turned lab space innovator

Hilary Benn , MP for Leeds South and Secretary of State for Northern Ireland, has visited Victoria Garcia in her new lab space, Quick Labs, to find out more about the mission to bring collaborative and sustainable labs to the UK.

During the tour of the labs, Victoria showed Hilary their space and told him more about the potential impact of the companies Quick Labs could help, and how this is blocked by the lack of affordable spaces for ventures to grow and develop their technology.

"It was a pleasure to see what Quick Labs is all about – providing much-needed laboratory space for entrepreneurs and start-ups who have got ideas they want to test out. We have a proud history of innovation in our country, but we need to nurture the next generation of scientists and researchers and their great ideas."
Hilary Benn, MP

In advance of the MP’s visit, our ecosystem development specialist, Alex Heaffey, sat down with Victoria to find out more about the concept and her goal to do for lab space “What Ryanair did with the aviation industry.”¹

You can also read more about Hilary's visit  on the Royal Society of Chemistry's website.

Establishing BindEthics and the inspiration for Quick Labs

Starting as many scientific entrepreneurs do in academia, Victoria worked in the pharmaceutical industry before branching out into the start-up world. Working for multiple former RSC EnterprisePlus companies with sustainability missions, Victoria worked at Unit DX – now Science Creates , an incubator created to address a regional lack of lab space for deep tech – where Victoria got to know more about the start-up ecosystem, before she founded BindEthics.

BindEthics is developing a sustainable, bio-based adhesive to replace fossil-fuel derived adhesives in engineered wood products. We’ve had the chance to get to know Victoria and help her make Quick Labs a reality, as well as support BindEthics through the Emerging Technologies Competition  and Change Makers. Through our programmes, she has worked with a Venture Mentor, formed critical connections, received investment support, and contributed to the Unlocking Innovation report  by sharing her challenges to find lab space.

What were you finding difficult about finding a lab?

Whilst establishing BindEthics, the reality of finding a suitable lab space to develop her technology began to hit home. “There was no lab space to develop my technology. The only one that was available, at least in Leeds … they have lab space that you can rent for £7,000 or £8,000 per month for 4 people, and I’m just starting. I’m very early stage, I’m not Series A yet, I can’t do that. I managed through grants, and bits and pieces, to at least get my minimum viable product, but it was really a problem.” When talking about her first space, Victoria said, “I had access to a lab… really just a bench. If I was to use any specialised equipment – and by that I’m talking a 10 litre reactor – I would need to pay £500 or more to use it for the day.”

Hilary Benn MP (left) and BindEthics and Quick Labs CEO Victoria Garcia (right)

What was the impact of this difficulty?

Ultimately for Victoria, the goal was to turn her technology into a sustainable alternative to existing products and reduce reliance on fossil fuels, but this impact was hindered. “It totally slowed me down and made go into the business with a heavy heart... I want to develop great technology that is going to help everyone. The government is asking us to develop… but the system is putting up hurdles.”

"How many scientists, how many academics, have great ideas, but at the very last moment they stop because there was no lab space available?"

So, after making it through that struggle to find a home for her technology, Victoria decided to take on the challenge to smooth the road for future ventures, and Quick Labs was born.

What does Quick Labs offer?

The Quick Labs offer is very simple, “You see the way we do research in universities… there’s maybe 20 PhD students in a relatively small, small lab, and everybody shares everything. That’s how universities manage to have that massive amount of research, and progress so fast. What I wanted to do with Quick Labs is commercialise that business model.”

One of the big benefits is to create somewhere that very early-stage businesses are able to take just the space they need, and at much lower rents. Compared to an existing space that offers a minimum space for 7 people and £7,000 per month, “We could have 7 people [different companies] and then the rent is £1,000 each, and that’s basically how I am making the cost super cheap for the entrepreneur.”

When discussing the equipment available, Victoria discussed the focus on using her background and providing a lab that suits the unique needs of chemistry start-ups. “I have all the basic equipment: glassware, hot plates, scales, fume hoods, but I also have specialised equipment like centrifuges, water baths, viscometers.”

However, this is only the start; she is building partnerships to expand their repertoire, “I’ve spoken to a distributor of analytical chemistry equipment, and we’re now in an agreement… say you come to my incubator and you say you need a HPLC. I can go to them and say can I have a HPLC for three months, and they will loan that to me, and then maybe I’ll in a position to buy from them in the future… and if you need an IR spectrometer and I don’t have it yet, you let me know. I have distributors that will bring it in, and I’ll be able to rent and buy it off them, and then the equipment just gets added to the lab.”

"We’ve built the lab tailored to chemistry experiments and chemistry companies… chemistry is our speciality."

This is a model Victoria sees continuing, loaning or buying new equipment based on tenants’ needs and then making them available for everyone. For equipment that’s not yet feasible to have on site, she has relationships with other providers, “I can connect you to certain institutions where we have established a relationship… I will do anything that I can to help you get the equipment that you need.”

When asked about other ways they’re tailored specifically to early-stage companies, Victoria mentioned their flexible contracts. “What we do is offer these packages where you can have a minimum contract for two weeks, it’s not six months as you would get from most incubators… and if you need it tomorrow or next week, it’s going to be available.” This model is designed to match the fast pace needed, as well as enable PhD students to continue to develop ideas after their PhD, freelance scientists to take space only when needed, and allow academics thinking of spinout to test potential ideas whilst protecting their IP.

"Academics really see it as “no-one is going to give me a lab, I have to do it here, and then they don’t go for it because they know spinning out is so complicated, and the university is going to have 40%, so they stop it. And they also have great ideas that should be explored."

Beyond their role in supporting sustainability businesses, Quick Labs has a key plan for sustainability. They are currently developing a database for chemical sharing. “When you do an experiment, you buy a chemical and then you use it and you never touch it again… in my incubator, what I want is for us all to share our chemicals. When you’re ready to buy, we have a database, you look at it before you buy it... so say I buy a chemical for BindEthics. Now I donate the rest to Quick Labs… now it’s everyone’s, and you get a discount next time when you come to the lab. It would be better for everyone: the environment, economic value, less transportation of chemicals .” The project to develop this database forms the basis for an RSC Sustainable Laboratories Grant application, which would provide £10,000 to help deliver this new project if successful.

Finally, Quick Labs offers intellectual property and grant support, “I’m developing a branch to help tenants with grant applications. Because that is what saved BindEthics essentially, so that’s support that I want to offer.”

Where are they at the moment?

They have now opened their doors with space for up to ten companies. “We now have the lab up and running… we have office space, we have laboratory space… for me this would have been absolute heaven, if someone had offered me this at the price I’m offering.”

When asked about the journey to develop this new idea, Victoria compared the journey of Quick Labs to that as a deep tech chemistry start-up. “To be honest, I’ve gotten a lot more support to set up Quick Labs… I think it’s because I’m trying to help other companies as well, and it has a clear effect on the economy and can do so quite quickly.”

Nothing proves this interest better than this visit from Hilary Benn, and the Royal Society of Chemistry is delighted to see that the ecosystem has been receptive to Quick Labs. From our Unlocking Innovation report, we have seen the need and through our More ChemLabs initiative we hope to convene more policymakers and the ecosystem to catalyse more solutions like Victoria’s.

However, it will be a long and complicated journey, and we encourage more policymakers to engage and understand the potential drain on innovation, societal impact, and economic value that happens when chemistry start-ups’ needs are not met.

What are Quick Labs’ longer-term goals?

Victoria mentioned interest from bio-tech at the moment, but sustainability and chemistry is their focus now, “I’m proving the concept… once it grows and I’m in the position to expand… I’d like to have a lab that is tailored to sustainability, and then another one that is dedicated to health-tech.”

"I want to have one in every city in the UK. That’s my absolute dream… Leeds, Manchester, York, Sheffield; conquer the North and then keep going."

Whilst their first step is onboarding some first tenants, expanding their equipment list, building their database, and working with their first customers to provide everything a deep tech chemistry start-up could need, their goals are admirable.

From this first space, they want to ensure that lab space is available to early stage companies across the country, so no-one has to struggle the way that they did in the beginning.

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