Kendall Square Biotech Incubator Launches Program to Draw International Startups

As biotechnology companies slowly downsize in Cambridge, LabCentral, a non-profit incubator for early-stage life-science companies, launched a new initiative to attract international biotechnology startups.

The Loop, which LabCentral debuted last week, offers an accelerated pathway for global biotechnology startups to enter U.S. markets through international collaboration and networking opportunities without requiring them to relocate or rent lab space in Kendall Square.

“There is amazing science and discovery happening all over the world and it is critical that we find ways to connect founders and scientists — it is key to unlocking the breakthroughs that eventually reach patients,” LabCentral President and CEO Maggie O’Toole wrote in a statement to The Crimson.

The program was launched as the U.S. biotechnology struggles to maintain international collaborations amid heightened federal funding cuts, industry layoffs, and shifting policy regulations.

“Unfortunately, constrained capital, visa restrictions, and grant challenges make it harder than ever for international collaboration,” O’Toole wrote.

The Loop was created to “directly address these challenges,” and facilitate increased international collaboration within the existing industry in Massachusetts, she added.

“This is not just a tour or a conference and flight back home,” O’Toole wrote. “In time we envision US founders traveling overseas to deepen these relationships with the goal of creating an impact that extends beyond the program and truly helps the most promising science advance.”

The Loop is a “soft-landing program,” intended to help international startups enter the U.S. market by reducing regulatory hurdles and entry risks. The program offers an in-person executive residency program that provides office space for two representatives per company for up to three months — expanding LabCentral’s existing coworking spaces and support for emerging biotech companies.

LabCentral was founded in 2013 and operates more than 200,000 square feet of commercial lab space across Kendall Square and Harvard’s campus. But The Loop is the company’s first push to draw international entrepreneurs.

The program launched this week with a weeklong summit that brings together representatives from more than 20 companies across 10 countries for a series of in-person programming, networking, and educational events.

Harvard Business School is offering sessions on U.S. market entry for participants, and the summit includes additional events with investors, pharmaceutical partners, and industry leaders. LabCentral Loop’s offerings also include dedicated mentoring to help companies improve their U.S. value propositions and a day of in-person programming to “spotlight partner ecosystems.”

O’Toole wrote that the residency program is intended to help founders “truly embed in one of the most robust life science ecosystems in the world.”

—Staff writer Maahi A. Bose can be reached at [email protected] or on Signal at maahibose.36. Follow her on X @BoseMaahi.