Venture-backed Sample6 to Move from Cambridge to Woburn

10/14/16

Rob Yacobian

Sample6, an MIT and Boston University spinout, is moving from Cambridge to its new 6,500-square-foot headquarters at Cummings Properties’ 12 Gill Street property in Woburn this month.

Sample6’s technology is used by food producers and retailers, restaurants, and healthcare facilities to avoid, detect, and prevent food-borne disease. The company, which counts multinational consumer-goods firm Unilever, meat-processing company Smithfield, and major dairy-processor Saputo among its clients, secured $12.7 million in Series C financing (for a total of $32 million invested) and a profile inForbes this summer.

NAI Hunneman executive vice president Evan Gallagher worked with Sample6 CEO Mike Koeris and Cummings Properties leasing director Rob Yacobian on the transaction.

“Mike and his team were seeking a location that would attract employees, be suitable for entertaining investors, and provide the lab facilities it needs,” said Gallagher. “Gill Street met all the requirements at a much lower cost than comparable properties in Cambridge.”

Sample6 is relocating from the Riverside Technology Building on Cambridge’s Memorial Drive to a private corner suite in a first-class office building. The upgraded space, located at the junction of Interstates 95/128 and 93, includes a newly renovated lab that was delivered by Cummings Properties’ in-house design and construction teams in less than 30 days.

“We see this time and again with firms in all stages of development,” said Yacobian. “By moving to one of our suburban locations, they are able to upgrade their space at a significant savings and apply that savings toward advancing their research and development efforts.”

There are many biotechnology firms in the area, according to Yacobian, including another MIT spinout, Mitra Biotech, which moved to 12 Gill Street in June. Sample6 offers two innovative tools: Sample6 DETECT™ and Sample6 CONTROL™. DETECT is an enrichment-free, on-site, in-shift pathogen diagnostic. When paired with the analytics of CONTROL, it allows companies to view food safety from a preventive standpoint rather than a reactive one. Many meat, seafood, dairy, produce, and dry goods processors have partnered with Sample6 to integrate these products into their plants. More information is available at www.sample6.com.

Cummings Properties’ 10 million square feet of prime space accommodates offices, healthcare facilities, laboratories, retail storefronts, warehouses, co-working spaces, executive suites, and more. With a portfolio of this size and variety, the firm can meet almost any commercial real estate need from 150 square feet to 300,000 square feet. Its in-house experts in design, construction, and property management offer “one-stop shopping” for leasing clients.

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