In 2011, four startups joined together to split rent on a Cambridge warehouse. They were cleantech companies with a common need for prototyping space, but none of them imagined that what they started would turn into Greentown Labs, the largest climatetech startup incubator in North America.

The startups—Promethean Power Systems, Altaeros, Coincident (now Embue), and OsComp Systems (now Reach Production Solutions)—became a community wherein the spirit of collaboration spread to every facet of entrepreneurship. From sharing equipment to swapping staff to lending emotional support, the founding startups and the others who joined them were benefiting far beyond what they anticipated.

The benefits of that collaboration carried the unforeseen incubator from the Cambridge warehouse to Boston’s Fort Point neighborhood to Somerville’s Union Square. The number of companies jumped from four to 55 in a few short years, and now Greentown is home to more than 180 climatetech startups and has locations in Somerville, MA and Houston, TX.

This year, we’re launching #Greentown10 to celebrate the startups, corporate partners, ecosystem collaborators, and other climate champions who have worked together over Greentown’s first decade. Together, they’ve built a supportive community that is more than the sum of its parts—and is all in the name of climate action.

Our 10-year anniversary isn’t the only big milestone for Greentown in 2021—we also opened our first out-of-state expansion in Houston, TX!

Greentown Houston opened its doors on Earth Day 2021, and we’ve welcomed more than 30 members. We’re thrilled to be supporting climatetech startups in Houston, TX—an energy hub unlike any other that’s capable of leading the way in renewable energy and the decarbonization of our planet.

To the Greentown team, there’s nothing better than seeing our members’ technologies deployed out in the world. We’re proud to have incubated more than 400 startups over the past 10 years, and our network of hundreds of alumni are doing meaningful climate work with the technologies that years ago were developed at Greentown.

In honor of #Greentown10, we checked in with several of our alumni to hear their latest news and how the Greentown community and network have shaped their growth. Learn about them here!

In Greentown’s 10 years of existence, our members have created more than 8,400 jobs—that’s 8,400 climate champions putting to work their unique set of skills and experiences to solve the climate crisis.

These thousands of new jobs illustrate that Greentown startups are not only developing climatetech solutions—they’re building a climate workforce that is ready to harness the massive economic opportunities of the energy transition. And that climate workforce is hiring.

There’s a place for everyone in climatetech, whether they’ve previously worked in traditional energy, have experience tackling climate change, or are new to the climate and energy fields. Just ask Patricia Vega, CEO of Greentown Houston member Quantum New Energy, who worked in traditional energy for 25 years before founding a climatetech startup. And recently, we were encouraged to see 27 labor unions release a report showing that the energy transition could create 1.1 million jobs in Texas alone. The jobs are here. We just need you!

Every day, there is magic happening at Greentown Labs—from scientists and engineers developing groundbreaking climatetech innovations in our labs to entrepreneurs making impactful connections with each other over coffee. And for one day a year, we open up our lab doors so that you can see the climate action that’s at work here year-round.

We held our first DEMO Day in 2013, two years after Greentown’s founding. Throughout the years, DEMO Day grew into an event that featured lab tours, dynamic speaking programs featuring industry leaders and elected officials, popcorn pitches from our members, and, most crucially, opportunities for the entire climatetech and cleantech ecosystem to connect with our startups. We regularly announced big news at the event, from our in-state expansion to our members’ product launches.

In 2020, we took DEMO Day to the next level. The first-ever Greentown Labs Climatetech Summit introduced what we see as the four pillars of climate action—technology, finance, policy, and justice—and featured programming on each, alongside extra opportunities to network with our startups. This virtual event drew more than 2,200 attendees from 30 countries around the world. 

At the second annual Climatetech Summit, which happened at Greentown HQ, Greentown Houston, and via livestream, Greentown’s entrepreneurs shared the solutions they’re developing and what they need to bring them to market. The event also featured key technology areas that are driving momentum to equitably tackle the climate crisis and explored the plentiful opportunities for everyone to be a part of the energy transition that’s already unfolding.

A Reflection from Our CEO Emily Reichert

“As 2021 comes to a close, so does #Greentown10, our year-long celebration of the startups, partners, ecosystem collaborators, and other climate champions who have played an active part in building Greentown Labs over the past 10 years. 

As CEO of Greentown Labs—and proudly Greentown’s first official employee—I’ve had the honor of watching the Greentown community grow up over the past 10 years. We’ve gone from four founders to a community that’s supported more than 450 startups, with more than 70 corporate partners and more than 140,000 sq. ft. of lab space. Our startups have created nearly 8,000 jobs, raised more than $1.5 billion in investment, and contributed back at least $1.6 billion to local economies. 

It’s been an incredible 10 years, but we know we can’t stop there! As the Sixth Assessment Report from the IPCC vividly stated, the next 10 years will be the most important in our quest for meaningful climate action. While we have some of the climate solutions we need, many more must still be brought to scale. So now more than ever before, it is the time for a climatetech revolution.“