News

Zapata is one of the first users of Google’s new open-source software framework for quantum computing.

Companies

• Zapata AI [NASDAQ: ZPTA]

At Fortune Brainstorm Tech, The Engine Katie Rae discussed investment trends and the future of Tough Tech.

People

• Katie Rae

Boston Business Journal on how Hedron (formerly Analytical Space) is building the “Cisco of space.”

Congrats to founders Shreya Dave (Via Separations), Nabiha Saklayen (Cellino Biotech), and William Woodford (Form Energy) — named as world’s top “Innovators Under 35” by MIT Tech Review.

Companies

• Via Separations
• Cellino
• Form Energy

Zapata Computing could end up with a bird’s-eye view of how applications perform on quantum computers, giving it a big advantage in the market.

Companies

• Zapata AI [NASDAQ: ZPTA]

Katie Rae is featured on CNBC's Squawk Box, "We are shooting to create very large companies."

People

• Katie Rae

Innovations in fields like energy and transportation often take time—and extra support—to develop. The Engine at MIT is helping them make the leap from the lab to the marketplace.

Companies

• Via Separations
• C2Sense
• ISEE
• Suono Bio

People

• Katie Rae

“We’ve done small molecules, we’ve done biologics, we’ve tried DNA, naked RNA, we’ve even tried Crispr,” he says. “As superficial as it may sound, it all just works.” Carl Schoellhammer, Founder SuonoBio

Companies

• Suono Bio

The Engine will provide funding, space, and expertise—powering a network of innovation networks.

Keller is Co-Founder and CTO of Via Separations, which develops membrane materials for separation processes.

Companies

• Via Separations

Form Energy (formerly Baseload Renewables) has an ambitious goal: use renewable energy to replace fossil fuels as baseload electric power.

Companies

• Form Energy

MIT’s Yet-Ming Chiang has launched a flow battery startup aimed at making renewable energy competitive with fossil fuels.

Companies

• Form Energy

Energy demands from developing countries are going to grow by about 10% between now and 2040. By that year, they will be using 65% of the world’s total energy supply.

Companies

• Form Energy

Katie Rae is CEO and managing partner at The Engine, a venture fund and incubator that focuses on “Tough Tech.”

People

• Katie Rae

The Engine, a venture firm founded at MIT, announced that its debut fund has expanded to a total of $200 million.

The Engine has announced plans to invest $200m into seven startups. These companies focus on "Tough Tech" areas, including aerospace, biotech, renewable energy, and genetic engineering.

The Engine, a US-based program initiated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) aimed at complex technologies, has raised $200m for its first fund.

The Engine announced the first seven companies in its program this week, launching its unique investing experiment in “Tough Tech."

Companies

• C2Sense
• Form Energy
• Suono Bio
• Via Separations
• Kytopen
• ISEE

If you think that too many VCs these days are playing it safe and only looking to back sure bets rather than moonshots and more ambitious ventures.

The Engine announced its first batch of seven investments on Tuesday, and revealed that it has raised $200 million, with plans to back 40 to 50 Tough Tech companies over the next few years.

Boston’s notoriously unfriendly drivers and chaotic roads may be the perfect testing ground for a fundamentally different kind of self-driving car.

Companies

• ISEE

The Engine, an incubator and science and technology start-up accelerator founded last year by MIT, released Tuesday the names of the first seven companies it will invest in. The startups work in a broad range of fields, from biotechnology to renewable energy.

The C-Suite: Katie Rae, President and CEO of The Engine on raising $200m from investors and using the fund to finance its first seven companies.

People

• Katie Rae

There’s often a disconnect between the pace at which investors want to recoup their money and the long lead time that tech companies in sectors like biotech and energy need to generate consistent revenue. We're here to change that.

People

• Katie Rae

The Engine has opened its doors — and has announced its initial seven investments in areas ranging from alternative energy to space communications.

Companies

• C2Sense

When researchers genetically engineer bacteria or yeast to solve a problem, one of the first steps can be the hardest: getting new DNA into a cell.

Companies

• Kytopen

A company that's come up with a way to deliver drugs using ultrasounds just became the first biotech to get funding from MIT's new $200 million* venture fund.

Companies

• Suono Bio

Seven startups scored investments from an MIT initiative meant to secure funding for “breakthrough ideas” to develop technology in areas such as artificial intelligence, renewable energy and data obtained from outer space.

The Boston Globe talks to the founders of The Engine's first group of portfolio companies.

The Engine announced the first seven companies in its program, kicking off an ambitious experiment in patient investing.