BUSINESS: Donn Rubin | President & CEO, BioSTL

An environment for innovation doesn’t just happen: It requires deliberate strategies. For 14 years, BioSTL has quietly worked to put these ideas into place. An emphasis of the organization’s work, according to Donn Rubin, is turning ideas into companies. So far, its BioGenerator investment arm has created and supported 53 startups that have raised a collective $190 million. But it doesn’t stop there: Startups need capital, so BioSTL works to recruit venture capitalists and set up investment funds. Startups also need physical facilities, which BioSTL helps provide in the Cortex district and at BRDG. Talented and diverse workforces have been developed through measures like the Bioscience Inclusion Initiative, and the organization has advocated for startup-friendly public policies and led efforts to secure federal collaborative grants. Now that the innovations are reaching critical mass, the region needs to attract established companies that fit its strengths—which led to BioSTL’s creation of the St. Louis-Israel Innovation Connection last fall. It already has its first success: The plant genetics and breeding-technology company Kaiima Bio-Agritech recently opened its US headquarters in St. Louis. – AD