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$10 Million Innovation Center Opens In Missouri’s Cortex Innovation Community

  • November 13, 2018

A new innovation center, called Innovation Hall, recently opened at the Cortex Innovation Community, in St. Louis, Missouri. The new center includes free drop-in workspace, event and meeting space, and a restaurant called The Chocolate Pig.

A key component of Innovation Hall is its so-called Civic Lounge that includes free drop-in workspace. The space also includes reserved meeting rooms and an event space that can hold up to 300 people.

“It’s targeted toward early stage entrepreneurs, but it’s also available to creatives and the rest of the community to have a landing pad to work while they’re still try to get their business or project off the ground,” said Tyler Mathews, executive director of Venture Café, the nonprofit that hosts networking and other events, and is managing Innovation Hall.

The Cortex Innovation Community was created in 2002 through an initial investment of $29 million from Washington University, BJC HealthCare, the University of Missouri – St. Louis, Saint Louis University and the Missouri Botanical Garden. It has since grown into the region’s largest innovation hub, generating more than 4,000 jobs and upward of $500 million in investment.

Companies like Square, founded by St. Louis natives Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, and Boeing have offices there, and the National Geospatial Intelligence Agency (NGA) singled out the Cortex Innovation Community as a key reason they chose St. Louis as the site for their new NGA West headquarters. Today, hundreds of companies call the Cortex Innovation Community home.

For more information on the Cortex Innovation Community, contact Steve Johnson, CEO of Missouri Partnership, at 314.725.2688 or via our contact form, with any questions you might have, and learn how Missouri Partnership can help with your business expansion and investment needs.

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