The following excerpt about the Zahn Center is from a CNNMoney article about the Harlem Tech Scene!
When people think of the fast-growing New York City tech scene, they think Silicon Alley in the posh neighborhoods of lower Manhattan — not 125th Street.
Yet Harlem is getting a tech-led makeover, thanks to a new series of economic development initiatives aimed at combating the neighborhood’s infamous high unemployment rates and widespread poverty.
“Our mission is transforming the community into a tech hub,” said Clayton Banks, executive producer of Silicon Harlem. “We can eliminate crime, increase employment opportunities, and give the community another Renaissance.”
…Local universities are playing a role in Harlem’s tech resurgence too.
The Garage partners with the Columbia University Business School, hosting students’ startups. Columbia biomedical engineering professor Sam Sia chose Harlem as the home base for the over 20 competitively-selected biotech startups in the new Harlem Biospace incubator. And City College of New York’s Grove School of Engineering recently opened the Zahn Innovation Center on Harlem’s Convent Ave., housing hardware, software and social enterprise startups.
“The Center has a great network and resources to help us translate our geeky background into learning the business side,” said Tanjin Panna, a City College engineering student who is building his biotech startup, GesTherapy, in the Zahn center free of charge.
A rising college senior, Panna’s team has already been approached by investors. They’re planning to start clinical trials for their physical therapy software soon, focusing on the large population of stroke patients at the neighboring Harlem Hospital.
Adam Price, whose Harlem-based startup Homer Delivery addresses urban logistics problems,says recruiting from the City College student population to build his team is cost effective, which looks good to investors.
“I’ve worked out of high-end incubators and co-working spaces in other parts of city, and they didn’t have investors coming in like they do here,” Price said.
