Northeastern University student Natalie Hill would be the first to say that while amazing things happen daily at her place of employment, Greentown Labs, the visit of the prince and princess of Wales is out of the ordinary. The royal couple is scheduled to visit the Somerville, Massachusetts, company, which bills itself as the world’s largest climate technology startup incubator, Thursday in the middle of a three-day visit to Boston that concludes with the 2022 Earthshot Prize Awards ceremony. Hill, a marketing and events associate at Greentown Labs, plans to watch from a distance from an interior balcony.
“It’s certainly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. We’re just really honored to have them come and learn about the climate tech innovation ecosystem in Boston,” Hill says. Greentown Labs, which is currently in its 11th year, is home to more than 200 climate tech startups at its 100,000-square-foot campus in Somerville and at a site in Houston, Texas. Hill says the company supports startups working on innovative solutions to greenhouse gas emissions by providing them with laboratory space, a machine shop, wet lab and office space in addition to investor connections and a variety of marketing services. Greentown provides “everything a startup would need to grow and develop their technology,” she says.
“There are so many solutions that are being developed. It’s all about getting them out of the lab and into the world,” says Hill, who has accepted an offer to work full time for Greentown Labs after she graduates from Northeastern in December with a major in politics, philosophy and economics.
