Somerville, Massachusetts hosts a range of startups focused on technology and life sciences. The city's companies are working on complex challenges in energy, AI, and biotechnology.
Among them, Form Energy is developing new energy storage with $1.6 billion in funding. Generate Biomedicines is using AI to create new medicines and has raised $693 million.
Below is our list of 15 Somerville startups worth keeping an eye on.
Failory's Top 10 Picks
Tool
Fundraising OS
Everything you need to raise funding for your startup, including 3,500+ investors, 7 tools, 18 templates and 3 learning resources.
Buy It For $97 $297 →Sheet
2,189 Accelerators & Incubators
Information about the industries, countries, and cities they generally invest in.
Get the Sheet for $50Sheet
1,600+ Unicorns
Information about their valuation, HQ's location, founded year, name of founders, funding amount and number of employees.
Get the Sheet for $50Sheet
250 BioTech & Health Investors
List of startup investors in the BioTech, Health, and Medicine industries, along with their Twitter, LinkedIn, and email addresses.
Get the Sheet for $50Sheet
250 AI Investors
List of 250 startup investors in the AI and Machine Learning industries, along with their Twitter, LinkedIn, and email addresses.
Get the Sheet for $50Sheet
250 Fintech Investors
List of 250 startup investors in the FinTech and Finance industries, along with their Twitter, LinkedIn, and email addresses.
Get the Sheet for $50SmartBear creates enterprise-grade tools that help software teams with development and testing. Their products support the entire software lifecycle, ensuring quality from the initial design phase through to deployment and monitoring.
| Year Founded | 2009 |
| Founders | Jason Cohen |
| Funding Amount | $25M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Private Equity |
| Top Investors | Vista Equity Partners, Insight Partners, Francisco Partners |
Kula Bio is pioneering a new generation of sustainable nitrogen biofertilizers for modern agriculture. Their technology uses naturally occurring microbes to boost crop yields and improve long-term soil health.
| Year Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Daniel G. Nocera, Kelsey Sakimoto, Sophie Purdom, Xiaowen Feng |
| Funding Amount | $72.1M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series A |
| Top Investors | BoxGroup, Lowercarbon Capital, Pillar VC, The Nature Conservancy, iSelect Fund |
Eden developed an Electrical Reservoir Stimulation technology that uses electricity to fracture hard rock for natural resource recovery. This method serves as a safer alternative to hydraulic fracturing and is designed to make geothermal energy a more cost-competitive and scalable power source.
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Ammar Alali, Paris Smalls |
| Funding Amount | $18.2M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | — |
| Top Investors | National Science Foundation, Good Growth Capital, Portfolia, Anglo American, US Department of Energy |
BrainCo develops wearable devices that use brain-computer interface technology for educational and wellness purposes. These devices translate brainwave activity into actionable feedback, helping people enhance their focus and relaxation.
| Year Founded | 2015 |
| Founders | Bicheng Han |
| Funding Amount | $7.6M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series A |
| Top Investors | MassChallenge, Northern Star Partners, Boston Angel Club, Hantan Capital, Wandai Capital |
Cyvl provides an AI infrastructure intelligence platform to enhance how engineers inspect and manage physical infrastructure. Their system uses sensor data to assess the condition of critical assets, allowing engineering teams to make more informed maintenance decisions.
| Year Founded | 2020 |
| Founders | Bryan Licciardi, Daniel Pelaez, Noah Budris, Noah Parker |
| Funding Amount | $23.2M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series A |
| Top Investors | Alumni Ventures, Sentinel Global, Companyon Ventures, RiverPark Ventures, Argon Ventures |
Recorded Future develops a security intelligence platform that provides real-time threat data to organizations. They help cybersecurity teams stay ahead of attackers by collecting and analyzing information from across the internet to identify emerging risks.
| Year Founded | 2009 |
| Founders | Andy Palmer, Christopher Ahlberg, Erik Wistrand, Jan Sparud, Staffan Truve |
| Funding Amount | $79M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Venture Round |
| Top Investors | Insight Partners, Balderton Capital, MassMutual Ventures, Employee Stock Option Fund, GV |
Form Energy is building a new class of iron-air batteries for long-duration energy storage. Their technology provides a cost-effective way to store electricity for 100 hours, making a fully renewable grid possible.
| Year Founded | 2017 |
| Founders | Marco Ferrara, Mateo Jaramillo, Ted Wiley, William Woodford, Yet Chiang, Yet-Ming Chiang |
| Funding Amount | $1.6B |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Debt Financing |
| Top Investors | Temasek Holdings, Trinity Capital, VamosVentures, Coatue, NYSERDA |
VIA created its Trusted Analytics Chain™ platform to help energy and defense organizations analyze their most sensitive data. The system uses AI and blockchain, allowing partners to securely share insights without revealing the raw data itself.
| Year Founded | 2016 |
| Founders | Colin Gounden, Jeremy Taylor, Kate Ravanis |
| Funding Amount | $47.2M |
| Startup Size | Lean Team (11-50) |
| Last Funding Status | Series B |
| Top Investors | Elemental Impact, Bosch Ventures, The Westly Group, BMW i Ventures, MassMutual Ventures |
Generate Biomedicines develops novel protein-based medicines using a proprietary, machine learning-powered platform. Their generative biology approach allows them to program therapeutics for a wide range of diseases, potentially creating drugs for previously untreatable conditions.
| Year Founded | 2018 |
| Founders | Geoffrey von Maltzahn, Gevorg Grigoryan, Molly Gibson, Noubar Afeyan, Sophie de Boer |
| Funding Amount | $693M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Venture Round |
| Top Investors | Alumni Ventures, ARCH Venture Partners, Flagship Pioneering, NVentures, Fidelity |
Formlabs designs and manufactures a range of powerful, professional 3D printers and their accompanying software. Their systems are trusted by engineers, designers, and manufacturers for creating everything from detailed prototypes to end-use parts.
| Year Founded | 2011 |
| Founders | David Cranor, Maxim Lobovsky, Natan Linder |
| Funding Amount | $253.7M |
| Startup Size | Large Team (251-1,000) |
| Last Funding Status | Series E |
| Top Investors | New Enterprise Associates, Founder Collective, Shenzhen Capital Group, Autodesk, E14 Fund |
5 Additional Somerville Startups Worth Following
Our top picks only scratch the surface of what’s happening in Somerville. Founders are tackling everything from manufacturing to environmental challenges, and they've raised hundreds of millions to do it.
Some are just getting started while others are well on their way. Here are the other companies that are making Somerville a place to watch.