Greentown Labs and Vineyard Wind Partnership will Support Offshore Wind Innovation

Engagement will focus on innovative data monitoring technologies focused on protecting marine mammals

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Feb 20, 2020, 08:00 ET

SOMERVILLE, Mass., Feb. 20, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Greentown Labs, the largest cleantech incubator in North America, and Vineyard Wind, developer of the first utility-scale offshore wind energy generation facility in the Northeast United States, today announced their partnership to run a Greentown Launch accelerator program focused on offshore wind innovations.

The Greentown Labs and Vineyard Wind Launch program will identify and deploy innovations that enhance offshore monitoring technologies focused on protecting marine mammals. To do so, the organizations will collaborate on a 10-month Greentown Launch program, Greentown Labs' flagship accelerator program designed to advance new venture creation and corporate partnerships with the industry's most promising cleantech entrepreneurs. Together, Greentown Labs and Vineyard Wind will support early-stage startups developing technologies to improve the offshore wind energy and marine life value chains by providing the resources, training, and expert mentorship they need to advance their innovations. The Launch program will aim to forge strategic relationships between selected entrepreneurs, Vineyard Wind, and Vineyard Wind's partners. Greentown Labs and Vineyard Wind will announce a detailed "Request for Proposals" in the near future.

"Vineyard Wind is excited to partner with Greentown Labs on this initiative to support and drive innovation to the emerging American offshore wind industry," said Lars Pedersen, CEO of Vineyard Wind. "Our company and dozens of others are poised to invest billions of dollars in construction and technology on projects that will only be improved by new marine data monitoring technologies. We look forward to working with Greentown to engage talented cleantech entrepreneurs and startups to develop technologies that will make offshore wind projects safer and more efficient."

Over the past five years, Greentown Labs has successfully conducted Greentown Launch programs across a variety of clean energy areas including solar, hydrogen, digital energy, the circular economy and more. Each program features unique partners and topic areas, a customized application and acceptance process, and three intensive two-day workshops to facilitate connections among the startups and supporting partners.

"Since our first Launch program in 2015, we've been fortunate to work with passionate, climate-oriented strategic partners that are eager to help bring new technology solutions to market," said Emily Reichert, CEO of Greentown Labs. "We're thrilled to add Vineyard Wind to our network of Launch partners and we know offshore wind presents a tremendous opportunity to bring more clean energy to homes and businesses across the Northeast region and beyond. We're confident that by working closely with Vineyard Wind we'll be able to help deploy solutions to advance the industry and protect the environment."

Greentown Labs and Vineyard Wind will release the request for proposals in March 2020 and aim to announce selected startup participants at a public kickoff event in July 2020. The organizations will also host a final showcase to celebrate the completion of a successful program in February 2021. To learn more about the Greentown Labs and Vineyard Wind Launch program, please contact [email protected].

About Greentown Labs
Greentown Labs is a community of bold, passionate entrepreneurs creating solutions for today's biggest climate and environmental challenges. Located in Somerville, Massachusetts, and founded in 2011, the Greentown Labs Global Center for Cleantech Innovation is the largest cleantech incubator in North America, operating a 100,000 sq. ft. campus comprised of prototyping and wet lab space, shared office space, a machine shop, electronics lab, and a curated suite of programs and resources. Greentown Labs is home to more than 100 startups and has supported more than 250 startups since its inception. These startups have collectively created more than 6,500 direct jobs and have raised more than $750 million in funding. The incubator's mission is to provide entrepreneurs with the community, resources, and space they need to thrive. For more information, please visit www.greentownlabs.com or on Twitter, Facebook, or LinkedIn.

About Vineyard Wind
Vineyard Wind LLC is an offshore wind development company seeking to build the first large-scale offshore wind energy project in the U.S., to be located 15 miles south of Martha's Vineyard. Vineyard Wind, based in New Bedford, Massachusetts, is 50 percent owned by funds of Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners (CIP) and 50 percent by Avangrid Renewables. For more information, visit www.vineyardwind.com.

Greentown Labs Media Contact:
Julia Travaglini
[email protected]
603-867-3657

Vineyard Wind Media Contact:
Brendan Moss
[email protected]
617-850-2193

SOURCE Greentown Labs