Building Innovation Ecosystems That Help Startups Thrive with Michelle Ottey

Groundbreaking medical technologies don't succeed on innovation alone. Behind every breakthrough is an ecosystem of resources, infrastructure, and community that helps entrepreneurs transform promising ideas into real-world impact.

While founders often focus on research and product development, the environment surrounding a startup can determine how quickly it grows, raises capital, and reaches patients. Michelle Ottey, President of CIC Campuses and Labs, has built a career creating those environments. After transitioning from genetics and cell biology research into innovation leadership, she now helps scientists, entrepreneurs, and startups access the resources they need to scale healthcare innovation around the world.

Creating more than laboratory space

After completing postdoctoral cancer research, Michelle realized her passion extended beyond the laboratory bench. She found greater fulfillment in leadership, mentoring, and empowering others to succeed. That journey eventually led her to CIC, where she now oversees campuses that provide flexible laboratory space, offices, programming, and community across North America, Europe, and Asia.

While laboratory space is often viewed as a startup's biggest need, Michelle believes the real advantage is the "invisible infrastructure" founders often overlook. As she explained, "I just wanna do my work. I just wanna be at the bench. I just wanna get this idea commercialized." By eliminating concerns like internet service, laboratory equipment, safety compliance, and office operations, entrepreneurs can focus on building their companies. This support also stretches valuable startup capital. Michelle shared the example of one company that extended its projected funding runway from three years to five simply by leveraging CIC's shared resources instead of purchasing expensive equipment.

Why community matters

Infrastructure alone cannot accelerate innovation; community is equally essential. At CIC, campuses are intentionally built within thriving innovation ecosystems, giving founders direct access to investors, universities, healthcare organizations, mentors, and fellow entrepreneurs. Beyond providing workspace, CIC equips startups with educational programming on fundraising, bookkeeping, human resources, and operational strategy while fostering valuable networking opportunities and connections with experienced advisors. For founders transitioning from academia, these resources ease the learning curve, allowing them to focus less on building operational infrastructure from scratch and more on advancing their technologies toward commercialization.

Thinking globally from day one

CIC's global network allows members to access campuses across multiple countries while maintaining a single membership. Whether working in Berlin, Tokyo, or another innovation hub, founders can utilize workspace, meeting rooms, and local resources while expanding internationally. Michelle believes these experiences provide more than convenience. As she explained, "There is a business culture to this that is about building a relationship and honoring the person's role." Those insights help entrepreneurs navigate different business cultures, strengthen partnerships, and prepare for successful expansion into new global markets.

Why this matters

Michelle's career reflects an important lesson for medtech founders: innovation requires more than scientific excellence. Early-stage companies often underestimate the operational resources, funding, and business expertise required to commercialize new technologies successfully. Rather than treating operational support as an afterthought, entrepreneurs should see it as a competitive advantage. As Michelle explained, "It's more than just the physicality of the four walls, it's actually all of the amenities and resources that come with it." That broader support allows startups to move faster, preserve capital, and stay focused on bringing meaningful healthcare solutions to market.

What to watch

As healthcare innovation becomes increasingly global, ecosystems that combine infrastructure, collaboration, and international connectivity will play an even greater role in startup success. Organizations that provide access to strong networks and shared resources can help founders scale more efficiently while avoiding common operational hurdles. Michelle's message is simple: great technology deserves a great ecosystem. The right environment, partnerships, and support can transform promising ideas into lasting healthcare solutions that reach the patients who need them most.

To learn more, listen to the full Project MedTech Podcast episode with Michelle Ottey, President of CIC Campuses and Labs: https://www.projectmedtech.com/projectmedtechpodcast/episode/25e60bbf/episode-267-michelle-ottey-president-of-cic-campuses-labs-strategic-growth-community-building-in-innovation-spaces