Innovation Economy

Innovation City and iFund

The Innovation City program is intended to grow the supportive environments for Somerville micro-businesses incorporating innovation into their business model. In 2024 the program was used in partnership with MassDevelopment and others to support the continued growth of Greentown Labs in Somerville, North America’s largest climate technology incubator. ​

In 2025, the program is open for a round of funding to support arts incubators, recognizing that artists are innovators and entrepreneurs who benefit from the support of incubators just as technology companies do. Information on the program is available here. ​

A prior version of the Innovation Fund, or iFund, offered loans to Somerville companies with innovative products or business models, helping them move to or grow in Somerville (this source is currently exhausted). 

For more information and an application please contact economicdevelopment@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.