Las Vegas hub funded by Air Force to advance startup scene

Las Vegas Review-Journal

6 years ago

Barron Stone, left, picks up items using a virtual reality headset with the help of MSgt. Powell Crider, right, at the grand debut of the completed Innovation Center and Prototyping Lab at AFWERX Vegas in Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

Brian Maue, director of AFWERX, speaks at the grand debut of the completed Innovation Center and Prototyping Lab at AFWERX Vegas in Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

Barron Stone, not pictured,, picks up items using a virtual reality headset at the grand debut of the completed Innovation Center and Prototyping Lab at AFWERX Vegas in Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

Matthew Viton, Prototyping Lab coordinator, left, talks with AFWERX Vegas director Mark Rowland at the grand debut of the completed Innovation Center and Prototyping Lab at AFWERX Vegas in Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

A room for collaboration at the grand debut of the completed Innovation Center and Prototyping Lab at AFWERX Vegas in Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

Barron Stone, left, picks up items using a virtual reality headset with the help of MSgt. Powell Crider at the grand debut of the completed Innovation Center and Prototyping Lab at AFWERX Vegas in Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

A Shopboot in the Prototyping Lab at the grand debut of the completed Innovation Center at AFWERX Vegas in Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

A variety of tools in the Prototyping Lab at the grand debut of the completed Innovation Center at AFWERX Vegas in Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

A laser drill in the Prototyping Lab at the grand debut of the completed Innovation Center at AFWERX Vegas in Las Vegas on Tuesday, June 19, 2018. Chase Stevens Las Vegas Review-Journal @csstevensphoto

A new innovation hub in Las Vegas could help advance both the local startup scene and the U.S. Air Force.

Tech accelerator AFWERX Vegas, which opened in January off Sands Avenue and Paradise Road, opened the doors to its new innovation hub Tuesday afternoon. The 30,000-square-foot hub will act as a local resource and workshop for academics, entrepreneurs, engineers and small businesses, among other groups.

The multimillion-dollar space is funded by the U.S. Air Force and includes event space, coworking space and a prototyping lab equipped with tools like laser cutters and 3D printers. The space is available to any members of the public so long as they work on a project that can be used in the Air Force.

“The hub is there to connect people,” said Mark Rowland, the director of AFWERX Vegas. “The ultimate goal is to see how many solutions we can employ inside the Air Force that have an impact” on efficiency, cost and safety.

Those solutions could include everything from updated female-inclusive Air Force apparel to technology that defends Air Force bases against drones.

Jen Consalvo, a Las Vegas-based entrepreneur and co-CEO of media-consulting company Established, said the Air Force’s need for specific solutions can help drive innovation in the local startup scene.

“Specific challenges really tend to open new ideas and get people thinking in new ways,” she said.

Consalvo said a problem-solving focus like this is critical.

“The challenges that our various agencies and parts of government face are just too big,” she said. “We can’t expect the government to solve all of these things. … Solutions are happening everywhere.”

The hub’s main mission is to act as a conduit in the startup community by connecting those in the startup scene with investors and the military.

“A win for us would be a startup with an idea, where the hub helps advance their idea to be a success in the commercial sector,” Rowland said.

Fred Mossler, founder of hands-on Las Vegas-centric investment fund Honus Capital LLC, said the hub could improve the local economy. Successful startups that benefit from the hub’s resources could create employment opportunities and help diversify the local economy’s sectors.

“Any investment in the entrepreneurial community is a good thing for the city,” Mossler said.

While Las Vegas wasn’t lacking in places for innovators to gather, Janet Runge, founder of UNLV’s Center for Entrepreneurship, said the new innovation hub will create even more opportunities for innovators to connect with the right people and advance their ideas.

“The more shots you take at the net, the more chances you have of scoring,” she said. “I think they are creating a model that I hope gets emulated.”

Contact Bailey Schulz at bschulz@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0233. Follow @bailey_schulz on Twitter.

This story has been updated to correct the location of the Enclave event venue.