Shaping New York City's Economy One Startup at a Time

Shaping New York City’s Economy One Startup at a Time

We’re a network of business incubators and accelerators that support early stage ventures in New York City — join us!

Discover Our Programs

After relocating from San Francisco to New York City and joining the program, we were immediately plugged into a wide network of advisors and resources that opened up a world of possibilities. We were thrilled to discover how NYU and the Future Labs have cultivated a rich ecosystem of machine learning and artificial intelligence-focused researchers and startups, which is especially beneficial to Paperspace.

Dillon Erb

Cofounder, Paperspace

Building a startup is incredibly challenging, but having the support of the Future Labs, its leaders, and other portfolio companies was a huge advantage. They helped us set up basic infrastructure like banking, legal, and VC intros and allowed us to spend our time building our product. The community provided the support network we needed to build, launch, and ultimately scale. We wouldn't be here today without their help.

Adam Goldstein

Cofounder, Vettery

ACRE was invaluable in supporting our company's entry in the U.S. market. In our early efforts to develop a first-of-its-kind project under the state's Reforming Energy Vision, Pat and her team helped Opus One develop a presence in New York with key utility and regulatory introductions, media, and funding partners‎. ACRE's support reaffirms its commitment to cleantech companies and continuing to support our rapid growth.

Joshua Wong

Founder, Opus One Solutions

From day one, we knew we’d aligned with people and a program that shared our values of hard work, persistence, and partnership. Each company gets what it needs based on where it is right now. At no moment do you get the sense that you’re part of an assembly line. From the thoughtful choice of mentors to the above-and-beyond that the first-class Future Labs staff goes to increase your chances for success, you’d be hard pressed to find a better program.

Michael Bishop

Cofounder, Alpha Vertex

After relocating from San Francisco to New York City and joining the program, we were immediately plugged into a wide network of advisors and resources that opened up a world of possibilities. We were thrilled to discover how NYU and the Future Labs have cultivated a rich ecosystem of machine learning and artificial intelligence-focused researchers and startups, which is especially beneficial to Paperspace.

Dillon Erb

Cofounder, Paperspace

Building a startup is incredibly challenging, but having the support of the Future Labs, its leaders, and other portfolio companies was a huge advantage. They helped us set up basic infrastructure like banking, legal, and VC intros and allowed us to spend our time building our product. The community provided the support network we needed to build, launch, and ultimately scale. We wouldn't be here today without their help.

Adam Goldstein

Cofounder, Vettery

About

Started as a partnership between New York University Tandon School of Engineering (NYU Tandon), the City of New York, NYSERDA, and the New York Economic Development Corporation, the Future Labs formed in response to the financial crisis of the early 21st-century. Meant to diversify and grow the city's economic engines, the labs fostered — and continue to nurture — New York City's business community by leveraging NYU's resources and providing bespoke support to past and present startups within its network. Educational programs and events further inform and create connections within the city's entrepreneurial community.

Labs Across NYC

Data
Future Lab

Group 3 Created with Sketch. Downtown Brooklyn

Located in Downtown Brooklyn, our Data Future Lab incubates early stage businesses working with computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, or building intelligent conversational agents.

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Digital
Future Lab

Group 3 Created with Sketch. DUMBO

Situated by the East River waterfront in Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood, our Digital Future Lab houses early stage startups focused on virtual reality (VR), augmented reality (AR), video, cloud computing, or digital media.

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Urban
Future Lab

Group 3 Created with Sketch. Downtown Brooklyn

Surrounded by multiple train lines in downtown Brooklyn, the Urban Future Lab is New York City’s hub for smart cities, clean energy, and smart grid technology.

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Veterans
Future Lab

Group 3 Created with Sketch. Industry City

The Veterans Future Lab can be found in Brooklyn’s Sunset Park neighborhood in the Industry City complex. It houses early stage businesses led by veterans and military spouses

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Proven Impact

We help power the economy of New York City.

Economic Impact

$4.1B

Between 2009 and 2017, our startups and programs had an impact of $4.1 billion on New York City and, in 2017 alone, $1.1 billion on New York state.

Jobs Created

3,200

Since our inception, our companies have added more than 3,200 new jobs in New York.

Startups Graduated

150+

Our accelerator and incubator programs have graduated more than 150 companies since 2009.

Companies Acquired

28

In 10 years, we've seen 25+ of our companies and graduates acquired for a combined total of $530+ million.

Our History

2009

In partnership with NYCEDC, the Varick Street Incubator, the Future Labs’ initial incarnation and the city’s pilot incubator, opens in Manhattan’s SoHo neighborhood. It houses the city’s first cleantech incubator, ACRE, supported by the New York State Energy Development Authority (NYSERDA).

2010

Pixable becomes the first company to graduate from the incubator.

2011

NYU Tandon opens a second incubator in Brooklyn’s DUMBO neighborhood.

2014

The Urban Future Lab, the first location to take the Future Labs name, opens at the NYU Tandon campus in downtown Brooklyn. ACRE relocates there.

2015

APRIL Clarifai becomes the 50th startup to graduate from the Future Labs.

AUGUST The first cohort of our Veterans Entrepreneurship Training (VET) program graduates.

2016

JULY The Varick Street and DUMBO incubators rebrand as the Data Future Lab and Digital Future Lab, respectively.

SEPTEMBER We welcome the first cohort of our AI NexusLab, New York City's first accelerator for artificial intelligence (AI) startups.

2017

The Veterans Future Lab opens in the Sunset Park neighborhood of Brooklyn. It houses the VET program and features a prototyping space. It becomes the first Future Lab to reach beyond technology to serve all startups founded by military personnel, veterans, and their spouses.

2018

Data Future Lab launches Catalyst NYC, a program to provide structured mentorship and support to prepare pre-seed to seed companies for institutional funding.

2019

The first annual Veterans Future Lab Summit launches, an event dedicated to veteran entrepreneurship. The VFL's Apex incubator program reaches founders across the country by offering housing support for select accepted vetrepreneurs relocating to NYC.

2020

EVBox, a graduate of Urban Future Lab's ACRE incubator, goes public. The SPAC acquisition deal values EVBox (rebranded as EVBox Group) at over $1.4B.

In The Media

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Our Sponsors

NYSERDA
NYC EDC
Empire State Development
Barclays
Orrick
Daikin
NYCT
NY Power Authority
New York State
NY State Assembly
Shell
Toyota
Small Business Administration
Verizon
Wells Fargo