A supportive ecosystem is a cornerstone in entrepreneurship, according to Georgina Campbell Flatter, the CEO of Greentown Labs. “If we really want to be driving the most transformational technologies to scale at a speed in which we need them to happen for our planet, we need to be thinking about the ecosystem that we build around it.” During a seminar titled MITEI Presents: Advancing the Energy Transition, Campbell Flatter spoke of “the power of ‘and’” — the importance of multiple people, companies, and solutions collaborating to advance energy and climate solutions — and how that underpins Greentown Labs’ mission. “Innovation is a team sport. No one can go alone,” she said.
Creating these ecosystems is paramount at Greentown Labs, the world’s largest energy and climate incubator. “Through the lens of Greentown, we think about the power of ‘and’ through how we can work together better in the ecosystems where we have physical presence, but also how we can connect better across ecosystems,” said Campbell Flatter. The concept of "and" also exists in energy and climate, innovation and deployment, science and entrepreneurship, and competitiveness and collaboration, she said. Campbell Flatter feels this expansive lens is especially important in our increasingly polarized world.
At its core, Greentown Labs is a place to cluster innovators together. “We have to be very intentional about how we support and accelerate and help those entrepreneurs,” said Campbell Flatter. There is a science behind this “innovation infrastructure” that involves not only bringing creative minds together, but also removing friction so startups can move faster. The majority of this friction exists in the gaps between innovation and deployment, often referred to as the “valleys of death.” The first valley of death happens between idea and prototype; the second valley of death happens between prototype and the first commercial pilot. Greentown often asks where their ecosystems can be most helpful, which has led them to focus on helping entrepreneurs bridge that second valley, according to Campbell Flatter.
“Entrepreneurs at the stage where they can’t quite afford space on their own, and maybe it takes six to 12 months to figure out the permitting anyway, come to Greentown,” said Campbell Flatter. “We’re actively thinking about the customers, the capital, the infrastructure needs that you have in order for you to move your way through this second valley.”
Part of Greentown’s decision to focus on the second valley came from MIT’s unique ability to bring innovators across the first valley of death — an ability that Campbell Flatter deemed “truly world class.” Referencing startups born from universities like MIT and Harvard, Campbell Flatter said “they're far more likely to be successful and scale because of the ecosystem they’re surrounded in. You’re getting feedback constantly from your peers, you’re getting support and mentorship — that all matters for the ecosystem.”
MIT also helps build this ecosystem by attracting innovators to the area. “Thirty percent of our entrepreneurs at Greentown are coming from out of state and moving to Massachusetts,” she said. “One, because Greentown’s a great home for them, but two, because of MIT and the talent that they can source from the ecosystem, which they are well aware of, and the knowledge, IP [intellectual property], and credibility.”
Not only is the symbiotic relationship between MIT and Greentown a powerful entrepreneurial ecosystem, but MIT has also been instrumental in Campbell Flatter’s own journey toward her current body of work. After completing her master’s degree in materials science at Oxford University, she graduated from the MIT Technology and Policy Program. Campbell Flatter credited her time as a graduate student at MIT for giving her an appreciation for how hard it is to commercialize technology, and for the importance of ecosystems, and for giving her an early sense of how energy and climate would define this century. “I think it is really important to recognize the intentionality behind MIT’s commitment to energy and climate,” said Campbell Flatter.
While at MIT, she ran the third iteration of the MIT Clean Energy Prize, advocating for the inclusion of a non-renewables chapter of the prize because she saw “how important it was to continue to decarbonize and bring efficiencies to the traditional energy sectors while we work on all these amazing new energy initiatives.” Greentown has put this into practice through their wide network of industry partners.
“I guess this early lesson I took from MIT was this idea that we must embrace the power of ‘and,’” said Campbell Flatter. “It slows innovation down when we don’t embrace and work together.”
This speaker series highlights energy experts and leaders at the forefront of the scientific, technological, and policy solutions needed to transform our energy systems. Visit the MIT Energy Initiative's events page for more information on this and additional events.
