In late 2010, Jason Hanna (Coincident, now Embue), Sam White

In late 2010, Jason Hanna (Coincident, now Embue), Sam White (Promethean Power
Systems), Jeremy Pitts (Oscomp Systems), and Adam Rein (Altaeros Energies) were looking
for affordable space to build prototypes near MIT.
Soon the four startups were sharing a
grungy warehouse space in East
Cambridge, until it was demolished
four months later to make way for a
biotech company. The four startups
faced a challenge: where can we
build things and not break the bank?
Boston/Cambridge area is a great
place for entrepreneurship, but is still
a challenge to find inexpensive space
to build hardware prototypes, like a
multi-phase compressor technology
or an airborne wind turbine! By this
time, the company founders realized
the value of the being part of a
community working on big energy
problems, and that they weren’t alone
in their need for low-cost, urban
prototyping and office space.
Greentown Labs was founded in May 2011. The mayor of Boston, Thomas Menino,
attended the opening of Greentown Labs’ first location at 337 Summer St. in Boston’s
Innovation District. Within six months of moving to this 14,000 square-foot space in Boston,
five new energy startup companies had joined the community. Greentown Labs began to
expand its role in the energy and clean technology ecosystem around Boston and
Cambridge, holding regular EnergyBar networking events as well as educational events for
entrepreneurs. With the help of the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center, and even more
demand from entrepreneurs, Greentown expanded its footprint in Boston to 19,000 square
feet and opened an event space in May 2012.
Today, nearly fifty energy and clean technology organizations comprise the Greentown Labs
community. The original four entrepreneurs and those that have followed have built award
winning companies and a vibrant community of entrepreneurs who share common
expertise and are solving complex energy and environmental challenges.
As of May 2013, two years after Greentown’s founding, these companies had raised over
$25M and employed more than 100 people. Greentown Labs now receives over 5,000
visitors per year, ranging from high school students to government leaders here and
abroad, and is the center of gravity for clean technology and energy innovation in Boston,
hosting an ever expanding array of events and providing a forum for educational
programming for the Boston area entrepreneur community.
Greentown Labs has
grown up fast. Initially a
grassroots, volunteer-run
organization, the
community needed a
leader to direct a
community that had
grown to over twenty
companies with diverse
needs. Thus a new, fulltime Executive Director,
Emily Reichert joined
Greentown Labs in 2013
to direct the organization
and shape its role as a
thought-leader and resource-hub in the cleantech community. With so many changing
space and resource needs for a consistently growing community, Greentown Labs accepted
a grant from the city of Somerville to move to a new location near Union Square. As a part
of that grant agreement, Greentown Labs officially changed from a non-profit organization
to a for-profit, social enterprise acting as a non-profit leader in education and community
organizing.
As of August 2014, three years after it’s founding, Greentown Labs has grown and moved
to it's new location in Somerville MA, providing over 33,000 square feet of prototyping,
office, and event space, and doubling it's capacity to serve the needs of energy and clean
technology entrepreneurs. Greentown Labs now receives over 5,000 visitors per year,
ranging from high school students to government leaders here and abroad, and is the
center of gravity for clean technology and energy innovation in Boston, hosting an ever
expanding array of events and providing a forum for educational programming for the
Boston area entrepreneur community. As of 2015, Greentown Labs is at full capacity and
now calls itself home to over forty-five startups.
To find out more, visit greentownlabs.com or email us at [email protected]