Just three years after Harvard University opened its Innovation Lab,\u00a0 a space for students to develop startup ideas, there\u2019s a new annex for alumni businesses located right across the street. The Launch Lab is intended to support not only recent grads who may be growing companies they started when they were students, but also alumni several years out who are working on new ventures. Both the Launch Lab and the Innovation Lab are in the former WGBH television complex on Western Avenue in Allston. I stopped by earlier this month to have a look\u2026<\/p>\n
Jodi Goldstein calls the 3000-square foot facility a \u201cprototype for the future,\u201d and says the goal is to \u201cprove to the university that there\u2019s demand for an entrepreneurial ecosystem here in Allston.\u201d (The current sign at the entrance to Launch Lab, right, is also a prototype. The permanent one hasn\u2019t yet arrived.) To be eligible for admission into the Launch Lab, only one person on a startup\u2019s team has to be a Harvard alumnus. Right now, the price is $200 per desk, per month. That\u2019s less than other local \u201ccoworking\u201d spaces like CIC or Workbar, which charge about $350 per month. \u201cWe had some generous donors who are helping to subsidize this,\u201d Goldstein says, adding that about half the operating costs of the Launch Lab are expected to come from rent, and half from donors. Harvard brought on a former Workbar staffer Alison Baldygar to help run the Launch Lab.<\/p>\n
Goldstein says that before Harvard even began broadly publicizing the plans for Launch Lab, \u201cwe got about 50 applications.\u201d The space can fit about 15 startups, she estimates, or 55 people total. Tenants began moving in earlier in September.\u00a0 The common thread is that these are first-time entrepreneurs looking for coworking space.\u201d The Launch Lab\u2019s first-floor digs are in a Harvard-owned commercial building that is right next door to the university\u2019s future site for an expanded School of Engineering and Applied Sciences.<\/p>\n
There are already 14 businesses working out of the space; the largest, with about 10 employees, is Censio.\u00a0 The company plans to use a smartphone app to monitor your driving habits \u2014\u00a0with your permission \u2014\u00a0to enable insurance companies to offer you a lower rate if you exhibit save driving habits. (IE, no excessive speeding, slamming on the brakes, etc.) Former Zipcar chief executive is serving as the company\u2019s interim chief executive, and the startup has already raised some early funding from General Catalyst and Bain Capital Ventures.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Just three years after Harvard University opened its Innovation Lab,\u00a0 a space for students to develop startup ideas, there\u2019s a new annex for alumni businesses located right across the street. The Launch Lab is intended to support not only recent … Continue reading ![\"Venture](\"http:\/\/www.w-t-w.org\/en\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/10\/Venture-Financing-300x275.jpg\")
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