A government contractor has graduated from a coworking space in Ballston to its own office down the street.
Cynnovative, a former tenant of the Industrious at 4075 Wilson Blvd, has moved two blocks away into a “fully furnished, turnkey office space” at 3865 Wilson Blvd, according to a press release.
The move comes a few months after Cynnovative received a $1.1 million research and development contract from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), headquartered nearby in Ballston.
“Moving into a dedicated office was an important step for our business,” Cynnovative Founder Jim Simpson said in the press release. “The new space gives us the flexibility to grow, enhances our professional image, and positions our team in a location that better supports our customers and strategic long-term objectives.”
Ethos Tenant Company, which represented Cynnovative in the move, referred to a combination of “location, cost and overall business strategy” driving the decision to settle on the new office space. Cynnovative did not return a request for further comment by publication time.
Similar moves happen with some regularity in Arlington, Arlington Economic Development (AED) told ARLnow.
Asked about other instances of businesses moving from a coworking space to a larger office, AED cited the example of Haypp Group, the parent company for nicotine pouch retailer Northerner Scandinavia. The company recently moved out of a WeWork location in Rosslyn to a 12,000-square-foot space in Courthouse.
An older but more recognizable example is the growth trajectory of Axios, which started out in a coworking space in Clarendon but rapidly outgrew the workspace, relocating to its own office elsewhere in the same building in 2018.
“When companies move from a coworking desk to their own office footprint, it’s a healthy indicator of the strength of the County’s startup and innovation ecosystem,” AED said.
AED is actively trying to promote more investment and upscaling in public-private partnerships through the National Innovation Quarter, an “innovation district” centered in National Landing that launched earlier this year.
“Looking ahead, AED is particularly excited about the role National Innovation Quarter (National IQ) can play in helping more companies make that transition from coworking space to a larger office footprint,” AED said. “National IQ was created to bring together startups, growth-stage companies, major corporations, universities, investors and government partners in one innovation ecosystem focused on emerging technologies and national competitiveness.”
The county “has intentionally invested in building conditions that help startups scale without leaving the community,” AED said.
