MassChallenge

Every year, MassChallenge sets aside one night to celebrate those in the MC Ecosystem doing the hardest work. This year, RESOLVE '26 filled Artists for Humanity in South Boston with founders, partners, alumni, investors, and ecosystem builders. It did not disappoint. The founders in that room are the rare humans working on the problems that don't have easy answers. Health & life sciences, climate, food systems, financial inclusion, security & resiliency – building in system critical areas where the stakes are high and the paths are complex. What accelerates this work are the partners, funders, and experts who step in before it's obvious. They stand in that space between research and scale and say: we believe in what you're doing. Founders need more than a moment of belief. They need a formidable network of resources and relationships that shows up at every stage of the journey. Sixteen years in, we have something better than optimism. We have a track record: 5,000 startups supported, $29 billion in follow-on funding, and a 50%+ survival rate. Thank you to William "Mo" Cowan for opening the evening, Caitlin Reimers Brumme for setting the stage, and Chris Houlihan for leading our partner conversations on the main stage. And to Sim Kahlon of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts, Mohammed Dastigir of MassMutual, and Rebecca Chasen of Deloitte, whose partnership makes this ecosystem possible, and to Alex Kotlar from Bystro, whose story is exactly why we do this. Thank you also to John Valentine, Junko Carter, Will Magruder, Jessica Davis, Robby Bitting, and Chris Bauer for facilitating the interactive breakout sessions that brought the night to life – and to Ember and Artists for Humanity for providing the perfect backdrop. The night was electric. If you were in the room, we hope you felt it too! #MassChallenge #Innovation #Founders #RESOLVE26

The Round 2 panels at MassChallenge Switzerland is finished. And although my participation as a Judge is complete, my mind is still racing. Here's what genuinely struck me: The problems these founders are tackling are hard. On purpose. Not "nice to have" innovation — industrial decarbonisation without grid dependency, eliminating toxic materials in everyday consumer products, reinventing legacy packaging ahead of hard regulatory deadlines, recovering critical minerals through entirely new chemistry. What separated the strongest pitches from the rest? → Traction over vision. Real customers. Signed agreements before production exists. Repeat rates. The story has to be grounded in reality. → Regulatory tailwinds weaponised, not feared. The EU Packaging Regulation and the Global Plastics Treaty aren't obstacles for these founders — they're structural advantages baked into the business model. → Team-market fit. The right people for the right hard problem. Every single time. One thing I'll carry with me: the best founders in this cohort already knew their weaknesses before I raised them. That level of self-awareness is the real signal of a fundable team. Grateful to MassChallenge for trusting me with this responsibility. And to every founder who pitched today, the work behind those slides doesn't go unnoticed. Also thanks to share the amazing judging panel, you are an incredible group of experts — Hendrik Marcel Dik Zhanar Baishakova Elena Lazzerini Monaco Juna Shrestha S Leigh Pezzicara Raymond Reuteler — evaluating cleantech startups competing for a spot in one of the world's most respected accelerators. #MassChallenge #CleanTech #ClimateAction #StartupJudge #ClimateInnovation #Sustainability #CleanTechNexus #GreenTech #Impact

Congrats to the Butterfly Medical team (MC '19) on reaching Series C!

Proud to have served as an advisor in the Deloitte Commercial Space Challenge, in collaboration with MassChallenge. This program does something rare: it bridges the gap between early-stage space startups and the enterprise infrastructure needed to bring them to scale, and my experience serving as an advisor to Supriya Jaiswal, CEO of Astrileux Corporation was certainly a highlight of my professional career. Astrileux aims to disrupt the semiconductor market, pioneering advanced extreme ultraviolet (EUV) and soft X-ray technologies with implications for both semiconductor manufacturing and space-based production. Their vision: leveraging the in-space environment to unlock manufacturing possibilities that are difficult to achieve on Earth. What Deloitte brought to the table was business acumen and broader space and semiconductor ecosystem context across supply chain implications, market modelling, cost-benefit frameworks, and clarity on what must be true across the industry for this type of manufacturing to become feasible and profitable. Together, we explored where space manufacturing might offer measurable advantages for EUV mask blanks, how in-orbit processes could affect yields or defect profiles, and what an orbital-to-terrestrial manufacturing connection could require. Programs like this compress the distance between a compelling idea and commercial reality. That's rare, and it matters. Thank you to everyone involved in making the Commercial Space Challenge such a meaningful program: Junko Carter Supriya Jaiswal Kyle Engle Jeroen Kusters Brian Houston Rachel W. Applewhite Sam Clavelli Brett Loubert Angad Singh Dan Hamling Karan Aggarwal Watch the Impact: https://lnkd.in/gSW5BWjC Brett Loubert #MassChallenge #SpaceInnovation #CommercialSpace #StartupEcosystem #InSpaceManufacturing #Semiconductors

📢 𝗢𝘂𝗿 𝗰𝗼𝗵𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝟮𝟬𝟮𝟲 𝘁𝗼 𝗯𝗲 𝗮𝗻𝗻𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗰𝗲𝗱 𝗵𝗲𝗿𝗲 𝗼𝗻 𝗠𝗮𝘆 𝟮𝟳!! Stay tuned. 🚀 Round 2 is underway! We'll select 100+ startups for our Switzerland early-stage accelerator, kicking off on June 29. From 1,849 applicants to the Switzerland Programme, these top #startups will join a 4-month intensive programme, including a complete curriculum, corporate C-level connections, in-person events, and mentoring, giving away zero fees or equity. Startups are selected for their potential to create real value for society ✨ 🌍 🤩 Aspiring mentors can still join and come meet our startups on July 1st! 👉 Discover what MassChallenge mentoring is all about, and register here (page 2): https://lnkd.in/eP-Wk9vE

Liz Powers of ArtLifting and Jacob Becraft of Strand Therapeutics are among 24 finalists for the 2026 EY Entrepreneur of the Year New England Award.   Two founders building real solutions to hard problems in some of the most complex, high-stakes sectors out there. We've been cheering them on since the beginning and we're not stopping now. Winners are announced in June. Congrats to both! 👏   https://lnkd.in/et2C8unq

Congrats to the Trust & Will team on earning B Corp recertification. Estate planning is complex, high-stakes work and they continue to raise the bar. 👏

Space is no longer a distant frontier. It’s a rapidly scaling commercial market.    Through the Deloitte Commercial Space Challenge, startups worked directly with enterprise engineers and industry leaders to validate real-world applications across supply chain resilience and advanced manufacturing.    This is what commercialization looks like.    Watch the Video Impact Series and hear directly from founders and program leaders: https://lnkd.in/g7JVYCa5

Climate startups don't scale on a B2C SaaS timeline. They scale on an infrastructure one. That's the through-line of Part 4 of our Chief Product Officer Gaurav Manchanda's analysis of 15 years of MassChallenge alumni data — 558 climate companies, $5B raised, and some stories behind what it takes to build in this space over a decade-plus. From the 2015 cohort alum that just closed a $289M DOE loan guarantee for community solar across 27 states, to the sub-sectors where capital still hasn't followed the problem, the piece is an honest look at where the portfolio has landed and where the next cycle is heading. Spend part of your Earth Day reading Part 4 below. 👇