The Rocky Mountain Innosphere appears to have finished the first year in its new building on the north side of Fort Collins on solid financial footing.

According to acting CEO Ryan Speir, the technology business incubator exceeded its $25,000 net-cash flow projections for the year.

In part, it was able to do so because nearly 40 companies are taking advantage of the incubator’s services, about half of them as tenants.

The Innosphere, which helps technology, clean-energy and scientific startups turn into promising businesses, plans to try to serve more than 50 businesses this year, Speir said.

Businesses may need all the help they can get if Speir correctly predicts that more than half the jobs lost in the recession fail to return. The Innosphere works to provide a robust support system for entrepreneurs where, it is hoped, they can thrive and contribute to an innovation economy.

That support system includes an Innosphere staff of four full-timers and help from economic development corporations throughout the region as well as the National Renewable Energy Laboratory, Colorado State University and Colorado BioScience Association among others.

That success should serve to