Looking back on eight years of the startup incubator—and looking ahead to its next chapter
Audrey Lee and John Yuen, EG23, at work at Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs on the Boston Health Sciences campus. Yuen and Natalie Rubio, EG21, co-founded Deco Labs, a startup producing plant-based feedstock ingredients for biomanufacturing. Photo: Deco Labs
Eight years since its founding, the successes of Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs are apparent no matter which metric you use.
By the numbers, the biotech incubator space has hosted close to 90 startups involving more than 700 scientists and entrepreneurs.
Just as significantly, Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs has contributed to a thriving research community, facilitated the exchange of scientific insights among companies working on pressing challenges, and expanded networks of knowledge throughout the greater Boston area.
“Tufts is quite fortunate to be a key player in this vibrant Boston entrepreneurial ecosystem,” said Bernard Arulanandam, vice provost for research at Tufts. “Having a wet lab incubator facility physically located on our Boston Health Sciences campus strengthens Tufts’ position in proactively promoting innovation within both the university and this ecosystem.”
With its network of 19 shared lab incubator spaces worldwide, BioLabs is well-suited to manage operations for this state-of-the-art facility at Tufts. The deep experience of BioLabs—and its emphasis on operational efficiency—have allowed the Tufts incubator to continue growing even amid a difficult economic environment for life sciences and environmental technologies.
“In times like now, companies are looking for spaces where their capital goes farther,” said Adam Jenkins, regional site director for BioLabs Northeast. “The fact that BioLabs and Tufts run this facility together not only at a high level operationally but also with a capital-efficient mindset is part of how we’ve been successful over the last eight years.”
The resources that Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs offers extend well beyond the 14,000-square foot lab space housed on the university’s Boston Health Sciences campus. Startups incubating there have access to all the same resources as Tufts-affiliated academic researchers, including core Tufts research facilities and the Tufts Vivarium as well as clinical trials run by Tufts Medical Center.
For example, startups looking to trial a biotechnology in animal models are able to work with Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine for help sourcing materials and conducting trials, rather than relying on a contract research organization. If they need help troubleshooting a procedure or advice on their protocol, they are welcome to reach out to Tufts experts for guidance.
The venture co-working space additionally helps its residents expand their scientific and business expertise with programming ranging from how to run a capital-efficient startup to working with investors and seeking input from legal experts.
Jenkins also highlighted the less tangible, but no less important, spontaneous interactions that happen organically in the co-working space.
“Some founders are first-timers just out of graduate school and some are 30-year veterans who have done this multiple times,” Jenkins said. “Having them in the same spot doing the same thing really helps the osmosis of knowledge. Just the off-chance they’re getting coffee next to each other helps residents upskill and learn in an informal fashion.”
Wide-Ranging Research with a Shared Purpose
This collaborative environment did not develop by accident: seeking a broader research community is a prerequisite for any startup hoping to work within Tufts Launchpad | Biolabs.
“All the founders in the 27 companies we have right now are talking to each other, helping each other out, and asking how they can lend their capabilities to other companies and other founders as well,” Jenkins said.
In addition, the application selection committee focuses on companies that are looking to commercialize their research with the goal of creating technology to better humanity. Companies working in the venture space span research across pharmaceuticals, medical devices, cellular agriculture, and green technology.
Deco Labs, a current resident of Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs, exemplifies all of these qualities. The cellular agriculture venture was co-founded by Tufts Ph.D graduates Natalie Rubio, EG21, and John Yuen, EG23, and is currently working to scale up production of its low-cost, plant-based feedstock ingredients for the biomanufacturing industry.
Notably, about half of companies coming through the Tufts incubator have proven commercially viable—a success rate well above the industry average.
“Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs has the perfect level of resources, support, and space that our early-stage company needs,” said Meghan McGill, EG19, Deco Labs’ chief operating officer. “We’re able to rely on their team for lab operations, compliance, safety, procurement, and more, and we get access to a turn-key lab environment. This has allowed us to operate with a lean team and focus our bandwidth on reaching key strategic and technical milestones.”
During their time at Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs, startups such as Deco Labs may be conducting initial research and development, working to scale up production, or solving technical challenges toward a proof of product or prototype. On average, they spend about two years in the lab space, at which point they may graduate onto the next stage of their business for a number of reasons. Some prepare for an initial public offering, others are ready to sell their business, and others still might look for a space of their own after larger rounds of funding or development.
Other companies may come to learn their model is not viable to move forward. Notably, about half of companies coming through the Tufts incubator have proven commercially viable—a success rate well above the industry average.
The access to resources at and collaborative nature of Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs are key assets that help startups reach these important graduation milestones.
“Having the support of other founders really gets people further than they would on their own,” Jenkins said. “Access to programming and other founders means you can learn what’s going to work and what’s not going to work in a month rather than four months. This means you can extend your runway by four times."
"It’s not unusual for companies to graduate five months earlier than they thought just because they finished what they needed to,” Jenkins said.
Partly in recognition of the successful formula developed at Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs, and of the need for similar spaces, Tufts and BioLabs recently announced their plans for a second incubator space on the Medford/Somerville campus, with a grand opening fall 2026.
Modeled on Tufts Launchpad | BioLabs, the new incubator will advance innovation in future foods and biomaterials. It will be strategically located alongside shared core facilities providing specialized research capabilities and an open-access cell bank of plant and animal cell lines and biological materials to support research and commercialization.
