RIVER CITY LABS TO RELOCATE

BRISBANE co-working community River City Labs will double in size over the next six months with plans to relocate to a redeveloped heritage-listed building.

TCB Building in Fortitude Valley will become the new home of River City Labs, which is relocating from its current Fortitude Valley location.

The new property will provide twice the size of the current co-working space, therefore ample room for partners and potential tenants to collaborate.

River City Labs is the brainchild of serial tech entrepreneur Steve Baxter.

"This potential move to TCB is the natural, next step for River City Labs to take," says Baxter.

"This initial aim to double in size is just the beginning there is up to 10,500m of space available if we move into this new location, and there is absolutely nothing to say that we won't in time come to occupy all of it.

River City Labs general manager Peta Ellis (pictured with Baxter) says the community's track record reveals its solid growth trajectory since its inception three years ago.

"There are countless numbers of established companies that have set up here - Orange Digital, Technology One, Uber, Tanda, Tappr, CTO for QLD Health, TrekTraka, Defiant Games, Cohort Solutions, CloudMGR, AECO and Black Sheep Capital - and there is a huge benefit to this concentration of startup activity, where essentially, River City Labs plays a vital, supporting role," says Ellis. 

Colin Kinner, director of Spike Innovation and project director of the Startup Catalyst Program, says the move confronts Brisbane's limitations.

"The startup ecosystems in most Australian cities suffer from fragmentation and lack of scale, and Brisbane is no different," says Kinner.

"I think doubling the size of River City Labs is a great step towards addressing these limitations and is fantastic news for the local startup community."

Brisbane-based Blue Sky Venture Capital's investment director Elaine Stead also spoke highly of the transition.

"River City Labs has made an unparalleled contribution to both the growth and the cohesiveness of the Brisbane digital startup ecosystem," says Stead.

"Their expansion is proof positive of the momentum of the sector and its coming of age in Queensland and is a testament to Steve and his vision and the tireless work of his team."