Innovation Economy

iFund

The Innovation Fund or I-Fund is a $1 million loan fund for Somerville businesses with innovative products or business models. Historically, this fund has been used to help extraordinary businesses move to–or stay in–Somerville.

For more information and an application please contact bsommer@somervillema.gov.

Form to Factory

In 2017, the City of Somerville, Greentown Labs, and the Northeast Advanced Manufacturing Consortium launched Form to Factory, a cross-sector partnership to support the Commonwealth of Massachusetts’ advanced manufacturing industry. The partnership is geared towards creating new workforce pipelines and connecting local manufacturers with innovative hardware startups.

Form to Factory is a three-year, $1-million initiative funded by the state’s Economic Development Administration’s Regional Innovation Strategies grant program.

The Form to Factory partnership supports hardware startups from ideation through prototyping and also helps train the next generation of manufacturers. Thanks to a partnership with the Massachusetts Manufacturing Extension Partnership, startups receive engineering technical assistance and can qualify for grants to build their product with a local manufacturer. Introductions to a wide network of manufacturers and access to educational events like office hours, lunch and learns, meetups and workshops are coordinated and host through the Greentown Manufacturing Initiative.

To apply for engineering technical assistance and potential prototyping grant funding, please fill out an application here. Your company must be based in Middlesex, Suffolk or Essex Counties.

If you are a Somerville hardware startup and are interested in internship grants up to $2,880 plus $500 for training please contact Ben Sommer at bsommer@somervillema.gov. Funds are limited and are granted on a first come first serve basis.

If you are a hardware startup looking to connect with manufacturers in Massachusetts please contact Matt Sweitzer at msweitezer@greentownlabs.org

FabVille

FabVille is a public fabrication space within Somerville High School. It complements the collection of professional, semi-professional, and artist-focused spaces already available in and around Somerville. With a focus on education, design, and entrepreneurship, FabVille is focused on engaging people in the creative process of design and prototyping. Students use its tools and resources to support, rather than drive, that creative process.

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Innovation and Opportunity Lab

The Innovation and Opportunity Lab is a Mayoral advisory committee composed of technologists, community leaders, and Somerville residents. The committee has two missions: to build the innovation ecosystem of Somerville through creative policies, partnerships, and programs and to connect this wave of innovation with Somerville’s neighborhoods.

This new advisory committee will hold its first meeting in the fall of 2017.