NYC ACRE, a cleantech incubator at NYU Tandon for early-stage business ventures, and Greentown Labs, the largest American cleantech incubator, have agreed to team up to reduce the complications cleantech startups face in New York and Massachusetts.

The collaboration includes the Network Expansion Program, which aims to develop a connected system for cleantech startups in the two states by providing free access to a workspace in the opposite state, creating event opportunities to expand networks and sharing strategies across East Coast practices.   

While entrepreneurs often face complications such as finding strategic partners, investors and markets to launch their startups, the partnership between NYC ACRE and Greentown Labs will provide these resources to growing businesses through their Network Expansion Program.

A spokesperson for Greentown Labs explained that their team is taking steps with Tandon’s NYC ACRE through the Network Expansion Program to solve major energy and environmental concerns in the country.

“The reciprocal Network Expansion Program will assist startups in market entry and provide access to potential customers and investors,” the spokesperson said. “We’re working to establish Network Expansion Programs with many of our Incubatenergy Network members to better facilitate new market entry for cleantech entrepreneurs as they work to grow their companies.”

Tandon’s NYC ACRE and Greentown Labs are members of the Incubatenergy Network, a selective group of incubators acknowledged by the National Renewable Energy Lab, the United States Department of Energy and the Electric Power Research Institute as quality incubators collaborating with clean energy startups. Given that NYU ACRE and Greentown Labs are both involved in this network, they decided to team up to resolve some of the friction cleantech startups face together.

Pat Sapinsley, managing director of Cleantech Initiatives and NYC ACRE at Tandon, highlighted that collaboration between incubators based in diverse locations paves the way for more efficient outcomes.

“Our agreement allows for cross pollination with twice as many companies between the two locations,” Sapinsley said. “It means that access to customers and market partners has doubled and expanded into new geography.”

In NYU’s recent press release on the collaborative Network Expansion Program, the Vice Dean for Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship at Tandon, Kurt Becker, further expands on the benefits of a joining cleantech communities across the nation.

“Both [New York] and [Boston] have access to world class university resources, start-up capital and a thriving entrepreneurial landscape,” Becker said. “Connecting NYC ACRE and Greentown Labs — the two flagship clean-energy incubators in their respective cities — just makes good sense.”

Not only does the Incubatenergy Network collaborate with NYC ACRE, but the range also encompasses many incubators beyond the East Coast. The goal is that such an inclusive, national network continues to enhance the process for many technology startups in the field ofclean energy.

A version of this article appeared in the Monday, March 28 print edition. Email Momachi Pabrai at [email protected].