Looking to start or scale a climate company in Boston?
From Greentown Labs, The Engine, and Activate Boston, here is the accelerator and incubator ecosystem that can back your startup with capital, space, and hands-on support.
Greentown Labs
Greentown Labs is North America's largest climatetech incubator, offering the deepest physical infrastructure in the ecosystem from its Somerville campus, including wet labs, a large prototyping lab, machine and electronics shops, a battery pilot lab, and office space on flexible fee-based memberships. Members get software, legal, and business resources plus a large network of corporate partners, investors, and fellow founders, with a focus on hardware-heavy climate across energy, storage, mobility, buildings, and water. It takes no equity for membership. Suits hardware climate founders needing wet-lab and prototyping space and a dense community.
The Engine
The Engine, built by MIT, is a nonprofit Tough Tech incubator providing the full founder pathway from a large Cambridge facility of managed wet lab, engineering, and office space available month to month with no MIT affiliation required. Programs include Blueprint, an eight-week commercialisation course for researchers with no equity and founder-retained IP, a faculty seminar, and residency programming across many learning areas, spanning climate, energy, materials, and advanced manufacturing. Fees are usage-based with grants and discounts for early teams. Suits scientist and engineer founders translating breakthrough research who need lab space and de-risking support.
Activate
Activate runs the two-year, non-dilutive Activate Fellowship for scientist and engineer researchers becoming hard-tech founders, based in Kendall Square with no fee and no equity. Fellows receive a multi-year living stipend, R&D funding, technical resources, and a national network of advisors, customers, and investors, plus memberships to The Engine, Greentown Labs, and CIC and proximity to MIT and Harvard. This opportunity is well suited for PhD scientist-founders early in commercialization who need runway and unencumbered IP.
Cleantech Open Northeast
Cleantech Open Northeast is the regional arm of the world's largest and oldest cleantech accelerator, a months-long, zero-equity program built on non-dilutive support. Founders get cleantech-specific mentorship, a structured curriculum, national bootcamps, pitch competitions with cash prizes, and connections to financiers, partners, and early-adopter customers across energy, water, waste, agriculture, and transportation. It takes no equity unless a prize is awarded. Suits very early cleantech founders wanting mentorship and validation without dilution.