Our Story

Innovators abound in Massachusetts and the innovation ecosystem has long supported those inventing new products. That said, in the past, when inventors reached the prototype or early production stage, many of them left to manufacture their products elsewhere. FORGE wants to change that.

In 2015, Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs, recognized the opportunity to create value for both startups and nearby suppliers by forging connections among them. That idea, to help innovative companies prepare to manufacture and connect with the regional supply chain, became FORGE. FORGE, the former Greentown Learn, is Greentown Labs’ sister organization and we have a simple message – we believe that if you can invent it here, you can manufacture it here, too.

Today, FORGE partners closely with Greentown Labs (the largest climatetech focused incubator in North America), to serve their community of 200+ member companies as well as hundreds of innovative companies from the broader ecosystem. From our colocated headquarters in Somerville, MA, FORGE serves a broad community of hardware, manufacturing, and materials startups, helping them bridge the gap from prototype or small batch production to scale. FORGE connects startups in the medical device, robotics, advanced materials, and consumer products industries to suppliers, manufacturers, and business consultants.

Our network of regional innovation support organizations, ecosystem collaborators, partners, and sponsors works together to improve the manufacturing space and move more startups along the path to production and scale. Through these connections, we’ve helped more than 500 startups to date.