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Otherlab

Venture Studio
3101 20th Street, San Francisco, CA 94110, United States (Historic Schoenstein Organ Factory building)

Industry Focus

Renewable EnergyClean Energy / DecarbonizationRoboticsSoft RoboticsAdvanced ManufacturingSolar EnergyEnergy StorageMicromobility / TransportationHealthcare / Medical DevicesHVAC / Building EfficiencyConstruction TechnologyMarine TechnologyAerospaceComputational Design

Geographic Focus

United StatesSan Francisco Bay AreaCaliforniaGlobal market reach for spinout companies

Otherlab is an independent research and design laboratory that operates as a venture studio, developing internally-generated ideas from initial R&D through to independent spinout companies. Founded in 2009 by MacArthur Fellow Saul Griffith, Otherlab pairs creativity with technical rigor to bring transformational solutions in renewable energy, robotics, and advanced manufacturing to market. The lab operates similarly to an accelerator/incubator but with a unique twist: rather than accepting external applications, it nurtures its own internal projects through the research and development phase, forms internal entities, and eventually spins them out as independently operating companies after securing follow-on capital. Over the past 10+ years, Otherlab has raised over $70 million in research and design contracts, amassed $100 million in follow-on capital, and successfully spun out 12+ companies. The organization currently focuses on helping government agencies and Fortune 500 companies understand energy infrastructure and build transformational technologies that advance the goal of 100% decarbonization. Otherlab's business model leverages early government investment (primarily from ARPA-E, DOE, DARPA, NASA, NSF) and transitions to angel and venture capital to grow successful companies.

Founded

2009

Portfolio

14 Companies

Partners

2

Success

3X Higher

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