Are you a start-up with a cool new concept attempting to build your first proof-of-concept prototype? Or a VC funded company translating your technology to production? Or perhaps a design group in a blue-chip corporation with a new set of specifications for a device? When designing a new device (or redesigning an old one), the…
June 5, 2023 – It’s official: FORGE has expanded into Connecticut! To celebrate, we brought Connecticut’s innovation and manufacturing ecosystem together for an afternoon of festivities and $40,000 in non-dilutive product development grant funding. Connecticut-based startups joined local suppliers and manufacturers, investors, and startup ecosystem organizations to connect, demonstrate their products, and compete for funding…
Apr. 13, 2023 – Springtime! The sun is out, the birds are chirping, and bold new ideas are growing in startup leaders’ heads. What better time to showcase physical products from our local innovation ecosystem? On a warm and sunny Thursday afternoon, more than 170 people filled the Dassault Systemes 3DExperience Lab in Waltham, MA…
Without approval from the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), you can’t market your medical product in the U.S. Getting FDA approval is a challenging obstacle on the path to market for a medical startup, but it’s well worth the effort. FORGE invited Iris Sherman, biosecurity and population research group lead at MITRE, to share her…
The innovative idea behind your product is what makes it exciting and valuable to consumers and investors. As a startup leader, your business success depends on keeping your innovation yours. FORGE recently hosted a panel discussion for our startup network describing how to legally protect your intellectual property, from patents to non-disclosure agreements. Our guests…
January 18, 2023 – On a cool Wednesday night in Springfield, more than 100 people filled the White Lion Brewing Company for the State of Manufacturing in Western Massachusetts 2023. Manufacturers, local representatives and other state and local support agencies gathered to discuss coming challenges and opportunities for Western MA’s economy. The evening began with…
Last year, with your help, we served over 300 innovative companies with manufacturing strategies and connections, launched our new Manufacturing Readiness Workshop Series, and distributed non-dilutive product development funding to our startups, and more. In 2022 alone, the FORGE team made 489 curated connections between innovators and local suppliers. Within the network, we saw supply chain companies and manufacturers redouble…
Getting Connected with Bossard When you’re prototyping, your workshop can start looking like the bench in your granddad’s garage—cluttered with bins of nuts, bolts, and washers in every imaginable shape and size. Beware! The wrong fastener choices during product development cause headaches and delays when you scale. A rivet that seems perfect now might be…
Collaborative effort recognizes local manufacturing ecosystem supporters November 2, 2022 (Lowell, MA) Every October is National Manufacturing Month. It’s a time to celebrate American ingenuity and innovation. Approximately one out of every ten Bay Staters work in manufacturing or related industries. This year, a group of local organizations convened to celebrate manufacturing with an event…
Cambridge Polymer Group (CPG) has been a trusted, integral partner and collaborator of FORGE for more than 3 years. CPG helps manufacturers and startups by developing solutions to their materials problems, at all stages of their product development, production, and distribution cycles. Their expertise covers polymer resins and natural polymers (such as proteins) as well…
