The new headquarters of Indica Labs at 8700 Education Place NW.
This week, a New Mexico pathology software company will celebrate the opening of its new, larger headquarters, an expansion funded in part by state incentives.
The company, Indica Labs, Inc., develops software for a variety of medical applications. It is best known for products that allow pathologists, researchers and other users to analyze images of patient tissues, like those gleaned from a biopsy.
Indica Labs had been based in Corrales in a 3,000-square-foot office for about eight years. In 2018, the company requested a $600,000 state Local Economic Development Act grant to go toward the building purchase and construction activities associated with expanding to a 14,000-square-foot facility in Albuquerque. Indica Labs says the expansion will allow them to create 58 new jobs over the next few years.
Bernalillo County, the fiscal administrator for the state funds, approved the incentive package in September.
The company is now in its new location at 8700 Education Place, building B, near Petroglyph Elementary School. It will hold an official grand opening on Friday, one that is not open to the public.
CEO Steven Hashagen says it is “gratifying” to move into a building that can accommodate the quickly-expanding team.
“All of us are relieved because we were really overcrowded in our previous space,” said Hashagen. “. . . We were sharing desks, working from home.”
Hashagen said the company has expanded significantly since it submitted its LEDA application in April 2018, when it reported a total of 16 employees. There are now 30 employees in New Mexico and others in Japan, China and the United Kingdom that bring the total head count to 43. He said the company is close to reaching the first hiring goal outlined in its agreement with the state and county, and is expecting a $250,000 check any day.
Among the positions Indica Labs is still looking to fill: computer scientists and other computer software jobs, and those in the biological sciences. The salary range across positions is between $40,000 annually and $180,000 annually in base salary. The company also has a profit sharing program, which last year was about 30 percent of an employee’s base salary, according to Hashagen. Other benefits include 100 percent of employee and family health insurance costs, and a 4 percent employer match on a 401K.
Hashagen attributed the growth of Indica Labs’ staff to both the growth of the pathology software industry generally and the company’s increased market share. He said the industry has grown substantially in recent years due to advances in artificial intelligence and immuno-oncology. More than 99 percent of Indica Labs’ revenue comes from out-of-state or international clients.
