Wilbe, a venture fund specializing in supporting science startups, has announced the opening of its first lab in White City, London.

Eliminating infrastructure bottlenecks

Wilbe has trained over 1,400 scientists, funded 22 companies, and helped create over $1.3 billion in value globally. However, the company has encountered a recurring problem: startups, after raising initial capital, struggle to quickly find suitable lab spaces, losing momentum.

With this new infrastructure, Wilbe intends to support scientists from training to obtaining capital, to solving logistical problems, allowing them to focus on research.

Flexible and ready-to-use spaces

The lab, located in the WestWorks building, will support between 10 and 15 companies, hosting up to 80 people. It will offer equipped laboratories, offices and meeting rooms, with flexible infrastructure for companies in pre-seed phase up to Series B. The laboratories are operational from the start, avoiding companies wasting time on set-up and procurement.

The proximity to Imperial College London, NHS trusts and a consolidated biotechnology cluster promotes collaboration and access to talent and customers.

Wilbe plans to expand into other hubs, including Zurich, Berlin, San Francisco and Austin, with a second site in London dedicated to robotics.