Fluke Hall at the University of Washington. (UW photo)

It was a packed house Wednesday (Feb. 8) when the University of Washington Center for Commercialization (better known as C4C) unveiled its on-campus tech startup incubator, the New Ventures Facility, in Fluke Hall.

The third floor of the building has been redesigned to provide office space for startup companies, and the second floor has wet and dry lab space where new innovations can be developed.

The idea is for the UW to double the number of startups produced there, from 10 per year to 20 per year within three years.

During the dedication, Linden Rhoads, the UW vice provost for commercialization, emphasized how helpful it would be for startups to have access to the university’s facilities, technology and intellectual capital, while having their own space to work and meet with potential investors and members of the business community.

UW President Michael Young emphasized the necessary connection between the business community and potential startups.

“What we do in labs … is designed to make the world a better place,” he said. “But if it doesn’t get out of the university, it doesn’t accomplish its mission.”

UW already had a startup focus at C4C, but the new space provides a dedicated place for new companies to work on product development and design without leaving campus.

Vikram Jandhyala and his partner, Steven Cathcart, have already moved in.

Jandhyala is the director of the university’s Applied Computational Engineering Lab and the brains behind the 2006 startup, Nimbic, a software program that provides a testable model of new machinery for businesses, like semiconductor companies, so they can see if a new design will work before spending the money to build it.

He and his partner, Cathcart, are working on a two-pronged startup called VIxim that would encrypt critical data to protect it from security threats associated with cloud-based computing. The service would allow companies that deal with personal and sensitive data, such as finance and medical companies, to use the power of the cloud without putting that data at risk, Jandhyala said.

The other part of his company, WaveSearch, would also make use of cloud computing to connect people who have questions to others who have the answers they need.

“So, if you’re going to be in town for two hours and you want to know what’s going on, it would connect you with the right people who could tell you,” Jandhyala said.

For instance, if the city’s rock music critic was on Twitter, the service would connect you with him to find out what shows were in town that night.

“Or, if you lost your cat,” he said, “you’d want to tell people on your street and people who are interested in cats.”

Jandhyala and Cathcart will have an office at Fluke Hall where they can write grants and look for funding, while continuing to work on the product.

Jandhyala said all of his contacts for Nimbic came through C4C, and that he hopes in the next year, he and Cathcart can use the funds they’ve already raised to focus on creating the new product.

The new space can initially host 15 companies and, when its finished, will have space for 25.

Three of those spaces are already being used – by VIxim, Nexgenia (a polymer-based nanotechnology company), and Envitrum (a company that processes waste glass into green building materials).

Emily Parkhurst covers technology for TechFlash and the Puget Sound Business Journal. She can be reached at 206-876-5441 or eparkhurst@bizjournals.com. Follow her on Twitter: @emilyparkhurst.