A who's who at Brooklyn's coolest innovation hub

On the banks of the East River, across 35 acres of land and comprised of some 16 buildings is Industry City, the largest privately owned industrial complex in New York. Inside this Brooklyn innovation ecosystem is a diverse concentration of more than 400 companies (and growing!) that tinker, build, create and design. Get a snapshot of the movers and shakers at this Sunset Park outpost by reading about some of the innovators who call Industry City home.

Aerobo

Aerobo is the first FAA-approved drone operator in New York and the only company in the country operating drones on such a large scale. More specifically, though: The company makes flying robots.

On a typical Monday morning, Aerobo's chief pilot can be found cleaning dust from the controllers in the lab next door to its office inside Industry City. A sort of machine workshop meets drone incubator, the lab is where engineers bench test each motor they build, measuring things like thrust, output, temperature, draw and amperage to make sure everything is flight-ready.

This is also where they create prototypes using a 3D printer and cut parts from a sheet of carbon fiber. It can get a little loud, but that's precisely why the headquarters are there.
"Having thick concrete walls is important," says company CMO Jon Ollwerther, above the clamor of machinery on the other side of the wall. "Having an office in Midtown Manhattan was not an option."
Aerobo CEO and co-founder Brian Streem counts Industry City's collegial, collaborative vibe as a big part of why he loves having their office here. In fact, when Aerobo first moved into the space, they borrowed WiFi from the people across the hall while getting their own connection set up. It's the modern equivalent of borrowing a cup of sugar.

Material Wrld

As co-founders of the luxury fashion trade-in company Material Wrld, Jie Zheng and Rie Yano have a mutual love for how the digital age can support their love for fashion. The friends, who met at Harvard Business School, both have a background in fashion e-commerce and were inspired to start their company when they realized the tired consignment store model of re-sale deserved an upgrade.

Material Wrld accepts trade-ins through the mail, which are processed by a team of buyers, purchased directly from customers and then resold via their sister site, The World, and eBay. Price offers are based on a combination of data, including market value of the brand, category, style, condition and seasonality. Once the customer accepts the offer, they can use that money to make new purchases using the Material Wrld Fashion Trade-In Card or through gift cards.
By locating operations at Industry City, Material Wrld has been able to keep inventory and operations all under one roof. It's a smart and economical move for a startup looking to streamline the process, learn from challenges that arise on site and become more efficient.

It doesn't hurt that on-campus activities create a fun and collaborative atmosphere among the tenants either. Yano and Zheng say the open vibe of the food court, plus sponsored activities like summer happy hours, rooftop films and daytime parties by Mister Sunday, means there are multiple opportunities for getting to know the neighbors.
"There's a really great atmosphere here where you can create, meet and collaborate with other companies," Yano says.

Danielle Trofe Design

Though Danielle Trofe's studio may be small — all told, it's just about 250 square feet — her ideas are big. Trofe creates sustainable solutions for everyday needs, using eco-friendly materials and techniques in a range of creative ways. Her most recent endeavor is MushLume, a line of lamps grown from mushroom mycelium.
Trofe's goal is to challenge how objects are made, how the materials are used and where they wind up at the end of their lives. Each of the organic lampshades in her collection is made from a rapidly renewable resource — a combination of corn stalk, seed husk and hemp held together with liquid mushroom mycelium that grows and solidifies — and is completely biodegradable. (Watch a video about her process here.)
At the heart of everything she does, from the mushroom lamps to a family of hydroponic vertical planters, is a curiosity for exploring how science, technology and design can come together in new and exciting ways.

Danielle Trofe designed the vertical planters that stand in front of the windows in her studio.

The best part about setting up her operation at Industry City though is the massive array of windows that line an entire wall of her studio, plus the interior windows that allow her and fellow tenants to get a peek into what else is going on in the buildings.
"I like this idea of, 'Let's see how things are actually made.' Having that open-door, open-window policy is kind of nice," Trofe says.

Coinspace

Walk into the Coinspace headquarters and it’s easy to see that founder, Solomon Lederer, is a fan of how traditional models can be re-invented in new ways. Along one wall is a gallery of framed currency, from a One Hundred Trillion Zimbabwean Dollar, Euros and a Saudi Arabian Riyal note to $100,000 worth of Monopoly money. Also on the wall is a Bitcoin paper wallet, which is central to the operation.

Coinspace is an incubator of sorts, a co-working space for start-ups focused on cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin and Ethereum, plus transactional databases using blockchain technology and beyond. Any day of the week, you may find members using the bespoke wood tables and mixed assortment of mid-century modern chairs to conduct business and change the way we think about money.

A gallery of framed currency includes notes in circulation, plus those both fictional and obsolete.

Lederer's goal is to practice a unique brand of digital socialism in the space, combining a shared economy with a decentralized autonomous organization that’s largely democratic. In practice, that means when something needs to be done — like hanging a mirror — one member can pay another through Coinspace coins to get it done. The vision is to eventually create a situation where the space can operate on its own, paying for transactional services like Internet or rent through cryptocurrency — no humans required.
Lederer says he loves Industry City because of its convenience and amenities, like the popular food halls, and the low rents in comparison to Manhattan. After all, money talks.

The food hall at Industry City features a range of options for a quick bite, plus a full-service restaurant.

Image: Industry City

HERO

It's an exciting time for HERO, manufacturers of a smart pill management device that’s about to go into production. At the company's 8,000 square foot space in Industry City, boxes of parts and shipping materials sit by a row of tables that will soon become the assembly line. Further back is a machine shop of sorts, where engineers design, test and build the electronic brains of the operation. Deeper still is the actual operations office, where a row of photos hang on the wall illustrating their customer segments.
HERO uses a patented pick and drop mechanism to deliver daily pills and vitamins, with a user-friendly interface and corresponding app that allows customers to set reminders and check in on loved ones to ensure medication is taken properly. The device also includes optional password protection to keep pills safe and secure.
Founder Kal Vepuri says that moving into the enormous space at Industry City a year ago has allowed the company to rapidly grow as they ramp up production, attracting talent nearby from Brooklyn and the rest of New York.
"[Industry City] allows us to have sufficient space for engineering, testing and doing research and development around a physical device, plus storing materials and assembling those devices," Vepuri says.
He also loves being in such an inspired community, working just down the hall from other entrepreneurs, makers and progressive thinkers.
"It was important to us to have a community doing innovative and progressive projects," he says.