FREDERICTON – Starting August 31, entrepreneurs will have a co-working space in the downtown core that will provide support to early-stage entrepreneurs and startups.
“The Nest” is a collaboration between Planet Hatch and The Cap and will provide entrepreneurs with a working space, business counselling, funding, programs, and events.
“Even in a small town like Fredericton, there can be a barrier of proximity or geographical location,” said Adam Peabody, director of Planet Hatch.
“And so, what we had been told by some [entrepreneurs is] … that they had hoped that we would be able to provide a home for them as well and most of them are in the downtown business district.”
Planet Hatch opened in 2013 and has supported more than 250 new companies. They are an entrepreneurship centre located in Knowledge Park. Their goal is to help entrepreneurs and startups grow into globally competitive companies to help increase the economic growth of New Brunswick.
“We have a number of acceleration programs where we connect these startups with subject matter experts,” said Peabody.
“Those programs address challenges and opportunities at different stages of business.”
The Cap is the home for live music in Fredericton. Located in Fredericton’s downtown, they have an on-site nano-brewery and record shop.
“We’ve always been a very nighttime focused venue, and we have all this great space downtown,” said Zach Atkinson, CEO of The Cap.
“We wanted to be able to work more with other creatives [and] there wasn’t really any [co-working spaces] downtown focused on the creative industries.”
The downtown co-working space will be targeted towards the unrepresented startups like creative and retails startups as well as student entrepreneurs.
To have access to the space and services provided by The Nest, entrepreneurs must submit an application.
Membership plans range depending on how many seats required, but your first seat is $200 per month with every additional seat costing $75.
Perks included in the Planet Hatch co-working space are 24-hours a day, seven days a week access, WI-FI, mentorship, and other Planet Hatch services.
“Once they apply, then we will get back to them and provide them with all of the information to be able to get set up and become members of the space,” Peabody said.
The partnership came after the organization leaders met during the Wallace McCain Institute’s Strategic Executives Program.
“Now that we’ve had to shut down, we’ve made it through it, we’re coming back, our spaces need to be treated differently. We need to be able to work with people differently,” Atkinson said.
“And that’s where I came to having the discussion with Planet Hatch about how they could have a downtown location and how we could work together.”
See Hannah Rudderham’s full story on Huddle HERE.