Harvard Innovation Labs


Harvard Innovation Labs is an institution which aims to promote team-based and entrepreneurial activities among Harvard students, faculty, entrepreneurs, and members of the Allston and Greater Boston communities. The i-Lab's mission is to bring together students from Harvard's various schools to foster innovation across the University.

Administration

Gordon Jones was named the inaugural director of the i-Lab in 2011. Jodi Goldstein succeeded Jones in 2015 and served in the position through the 2019-20 academic year. The current executive director of the i-Lab is Matthew M. Segneri who most recently served as director of the Social Enterprise Initiative at Harvard Business School before succeeding Goldstein in 2020. Professor Srikant Datar serves as faculty chairperson. The i-Lab has approximately 14 administrative and support staff members.

Facilities

The i-Lab is headquartered at 125 Western Avenue, Allston, MA 02163. The i-Lab occupies over 30,000 square feet of space divided into three areas: the lobby area which is open to the public, a multi-media lecture hall used to host RSVP events, and a flex-space open area for registered i-Lab residents. The i-Lab also has more than 20 reservable conference rooms and a stocked kitchen.
In 2014, the facilities were extended to include the Harvard Launch Lab, a space for Harvard alumni to continue business incubation. Unlike the i-Lab, which is free for Harvard students, the Launch Lab functions on a pay-for-table model. In 2015, the Launch lab added an addendum facility to foster 35 more teams.

Challenges

The i-Lab hosts several competitions open to students across the university. The Challenges are similar to traditional business plan competitions in which teams submit proposals, give presentations, and are judged by a panel of experts. There are cash and in-kind prizes awarded to Challenge winners. Challenges at the i-Lab include:
The Venture Incubation Program is open to full-time degree-seeking students and select alumni of any of the Harvard schools that are working on an entrepreneurial or innovative ventures. The 12-week program has fall, spring, and summer cohorts. As of November 2018, 1,146 VIP student teams have participated. In the first half of 2020, several VIP teams played significant roles in addressing the COVID-19 global pandemic, from making personal protection equipments to providing key economic data for the Harvard COVID-19 Business Impact Center. While the program does not provide funding to teams, it does provide them with:
SchoolNumber of Teams
Harvard Business School26
Harvard College18
Harvard Kennedy School of Government11
Harvard Medical School4
Harvard Graduate School of Arts & Sciences4
Harvard Law School4
Harvard School of Public Health2
Harvard School of Engineering & Applied Sciences3
Harvard Graduate School of Education3
Harvard Graduate School of Design2
Harvard Extension School2
Harvard Divinity School1
Harvard School of Dental Medicine1
Total81

Each team has one self-designated team lead. Statistics are based on the school affiliation of the team lead only.

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