Advancing Climate-tech with Greentown Labs

By Timothy Hu

At Fletcher, beating climate change at an institutional level often focuses on government structures and policy changes. This summer I had the opportunity to see first-hand how the private sector is also capable of building institutions to advance solutions to meet the challenge of climate change.

One of the virtual panels Tim supported.

Investor Speaker Series: Insights from Early-Stage Climatetech Investors - Emily Reichert, Emily Kirsch, Libby Wayman, Nancy Pfund(Starting Top Left – Clockwise)

In May, I had the privilege to join Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech incubator in North America, located in Somerville, MA. As the Investor Program Associate, my responsibilities were to identify and develop capital raising opportunities and support relevant programming for the startups that call Greentown home. Access to capital is a critical factor for the success of any technology venture. For many of the companies at Greentown Labs, success can generate radical technological changes in how our economic systems affect the environment.

I was inspired by how Greentown Labs provides an inviting meeting ground for these stakeholder groups to convene, connect, and collaborate. It is not uncommon for Greentown’s corporate partners to support a startup member company through pilots, customer relationships, and direct investment. In this way, the programs at Greentown are supporting the formation of partnerships that accelerate the diffusion of market-based solutions to meet the challenge presented by climate change.

Many times, Greentown companies emerge from lab innovations at Tufts, Harvard, or MIT. During this past summer, I helped startups find relevant government research grant opportunities. In addition, I helped build visibility for Greentown and its member companies with the venture capital industry. Although it strives to connect all of its members with potential investors, Greentown Labs never takes equity from its member companies for itself.  It understands that company ownership is precious, which inspired me to work even harder on behalf of the member companies with whom I worked. 

I also had the pleasure of supporting investment-focused programming for the Greentown members.  Every fourth Friday, we hosted a fundraising forum.  I had the opportunity to hear from the founders of our member companies about their technological innovations and help them in communicating the unique approach of their business to venture capitalists by refining their pitch. These forums also served as an opportunity for me to learn more about aerogels, plasma, computer vision, new polymers, and many other new technologies that have applications across a wide variety of industries. 

Greentown Lab’s new wet lab - a biosafety level 2 lab capable of supporting innovations in green chemistry, battery science, and other new material developments.

While new technology is often exciting to read about; to an investor, it can be too early-stage, too risky, and too capital-intensive. Within the investment management industry, it means only a small subset of investors - aptly titled early stage investors - are interested in Greentown companies. But not all early stage investors are equal. In fact, some investors can be detrimental to the development of a startup. As we spoke with early stage investors from around the world, we took care to understand what expertise and resources they can offer to Greentown’s member companies. I took great pride in working with the Greentown team to make the right connections between our startups and the investment community. The right connection can make all the difference in the world.  

To me, Greentown Labs defines a successful private-sector institution that aims for public benefit. It sits in the private sector but serves to develop wider market adoption for new cleantech technologies that might struggle without support. Greentown Labs is a social institution acting as a connection point for building partnerships to accelerate climate change solutions across new startups and century old corporations. I look forward to continuing to work with Greentown Labs in the future and advancing the technologies that will help us meet the challenge of climate change. 

Tim Hu is a Januarian MALD 2020 student studying International Environment and Resource Policy and International Business and Economic Law. He is continuing his work at Greentown Labs in his last semester at Fletcher. Special acknowledgements to Tufts University and CPL for providing support to Greentown Labs. Special thanks to Andrew Takacs for his excellent mentorship.