Toronto-based innovation hub MaRS announced a new partnership today that will expand its presence to Boston, Massachusetts.
With this partnership, MaRS and Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech incubator in the United States, will offer a “soft landing” for each other’s cleantech ventures by providing workspaces in their respective regions. The organizations also plan to hold events that showcase their technologies to corporate and venture capital communities in the northeast United States.
The partnership will offer a soft landing for each organization’s cleantech ventures on either side of the border.
“Greentown Labs and MaRS are dedicated to helping cleantech companies scale their innovations and reach markets in Canada and the United States,” said Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Lab. “This collaboration will create opportunities for startups on both sides of the border on many levels. It will help them draw greater attention from corporates and venture capitalists, while also supporting job growth and overall economic development in both countries which is a win for all.”
Since its inception, Greentown Labs has raised over $260 million in funding and says it has helped more than 120 companies. MaRS also says it has worked with hundreds of cleantech ventures that are looking at a variety of global challenges including, improving energy storage, generation and distribution to defining the future of transportation. In 2016, these companies collectively raised $210 million in funding.
This collaboration is one of several that MaRS has established in the region to help Canadian ventures create export opportunities in the US. On November 1, MaRS announced a partnership with Grand Central Tech (GCT), the largest innovation hub in New York City. Earlier this year, MaRS partnered with ACRE, a clean energy incubator operating out of the Urban Future Lab at New York University.
“MaRS works with many Canadian cleantech ventures that see Massachusetts and other parts of the northeast US as a strategic market, partly because of the progressive clean energy policies coming out of the region,” said Salim Teja, president of Ventures Services at MaRS. “Partnering with a well-respected, expert organization like Greentown Labs will help our companies plant roots in the Boston area and will complement similar partnerships recently announced in New York City that are giving our ventures more opportunities in an important economic region.”
