Media Coverage

The Tough Tech Road Ahead

11.17.2020The Harvard Crimson They are biologists and chemists, doctors and architects, physicists and engineers — and they are founders, too. In a society where speed is of the essence, their startups are tackling large, urgent problems that quick fixes can’t solve.

Harvard Invests in MIT’s The Engine

10.27.2020Harvard Magazine The Engine, which aims to provide capital required to tackle difficult technological problems, has completed a $230-million funding round, including Harvard as an important new partner in the venture, and bringing its total capital commitments to $435 million.

Deep tech VC fund The Engine raises $230M for its second fund from MIT and new backer Harvard

10.27.2020TechCrunch Technical risk is something many VCs like to avoid, but The Engine has built an entire brand and thesis around it. Centered around Kendall Square and the broader MIT ecosystem, The Engine debuted a couple of years ago with a focus on “tough tech” problems that are perhaps a touch too early for other VCs.

Harvard Joins MIT In Backing $250 Million Venture Fund Targeting Hard-Sell Startups

10.27.2020Forbes During a year when venture capital firms are chasing hyped software and artificial intelligence startups more than ever, Harvard University is joining MIT to invest in less-sexy — and research heavy — companies aiming to fix more existential problems.

The Engine announces second round of funding to support “tough tech” companies

10.27.2020MIT News The Engine, the venture firm founded by MIT in 2016 to support “tough tech” companies, today announced it has raised $230 million in its second round of funding, and will begin making investments in additional startups focused on conceiving and commercializing solutions to some of the world’s most pressing challenges.

WoHo wants to make constructing buildings fast, flexible and green with reusable ‘components’

10.22.2020TechCrunch WoHo (short for “World Home”) is trying to rethink how to construct a modern building by creating more flexible “components” that can be connected together to create a structure.

Compact Nuclear Fusion Reactor Is ‘Very Likely to Work,’ Studies Suggest

10.1.2020The New York Times New peer-reviewed papers predict SPARC, a compact fusion device designed and built by CFS and MIT will achieve net energy from fusion.

Startup debuts software to help any company use ‘quantum algorithms’

09.24.2020Fortune Zapata Computing has released software designed to make it easier for companies to use algorithms invented for quantum computing to improve business processes.

WIRED25 2020: Arlan Hamilton and Katie Rae on Investing for Good

09.23.2020WIRED At WIRED25, Arlan Hamilton and Katie Rae shared their insights on investing in companies that help humanity, and what's stopping other organizations from doing the same.

The Engine Partners Added to “The TechCrunch List”

08.1.2020TechCrunch The TechCrunch List is a directory of the most active and engaged investors in the VC industry today as recommended by founders.

The Daily Show: Biobot’s Poop-Centric COVID-19 Research

07.30.2020The Daily Show Michael Kosta talks to Biobot Analytics co-founder Newsha Ghaeli about her company's national campaign to fight America's coronavirus pandemic by studying samples of human excrement.

Mori, formally known as Cambridge Crops, raises $12M Series A

07.16.2020Ag Funder News Led by Acre Venture Partners, the funding round attracted new investors like Prelude Ventures, The Jeremy and Hannelore Grantham Environmental Trust, and ACCELR8. Returning investors included The Engine, Refactor Capital, Closed Loop Partners, Blindspot Ventures, and The Fink Family Foundation.

How The Engine transformed during Covid to keep employees safe

06.23.2020Bost Inno Not everyone is “going back” to work. Some of us never left. That is certainly true of The Engine, the venture arm spun out of MIT, based in Cambridge. The Engine, which had two of its companies working on Covid-related research, continued to stay open as an essential business.

How The Engine’s Katie Rae is addressing racism in VC

06.17.2020Fortune Venture capitalist Katie Rae spends her days dealing with what she calls “tough tech,” investing in hard-science startups whose products require years of research and development to create technology breakthroughs. But the sweeping anti-racist protests of the past several weeks have amplified an even more difficult, and long-entrenched, problem in tech and VC.

A Startup Is Testing Sewage to Trace the U.S. Spread of Covid

06.10.2020Bloomberg About 400 U.S. wastewater-treatment facilities have turned to Biobot Analytics for help assessing the pandemic’s prevalence.

Geothermal startup Quaise says its work has the potential to ‘power our civilization for millennia’ — raises $6 million seed round from Vinod Khosla, The Engine, and Collaborative Fund

06.9.2020The Rising There aren’t a lot of companies working on harnessing geothermal energy, renewable energy experts talking about geothermal energy, or media outlets covering the work in geothermal energy. A new geothermal startup, Quaise, hopes to change that.

MIT spinoff Quaise raises $6M for its drilling technology to access geothermal energy

06.9.2020Boston Inno Quaise Inc., an MIT spinout that developed a millimeter wave drilling technology to access deep geothermal energy, has raised $6 million in seed funding. The investment was led by MIT’s venture arm, The Engine. Silicon Valley investor Vinod Khosla, who helped found the company, and Collaborative Fund also participated in the round.

MIT startup wraps food in silk for better shelf life

06.5.2020MIT News Cambridge Crops develops an edible, imperceptible coating that might replace plastic packaging to preserve meats and produce.

What Your Toilet Flush Reveals About Covid-19

05.8.2020Bloomberg A Massachusetts startup called BioBot has been gathering wastewater (as in toilet flushes) from around the country and analyzing it for the coronavirus. Its results are among the most conclusive to date that the pathogen is much more widespread than previously thought.

How What You Flush Is Helping Track The Coronavirus

05.8.2020NPR With coronavirus testing still lagging behind targets, health officials are searching for other ways to assess the spread of the outbreak. One possibility? Looking at what we flush.

Form Energy’s First Project Tries Pushing Storage to 150 Hours

05.8.2020Greentech Media Minnesota utility Great River Energy will use new storage technology from the Bill Gates-backed startup to replace coal power with dispatchable wind.

Biobot Analytics featured on CNBC’s Squawk Alley

04.22.2020CNBC Dr. Mariana Matus, co-founder and CEO of Biobot, joins “Squawk Alley” to discuss how her company is testing wastewater to track the spread of coronavirus.

Ann Dewitt speaks about the impact of COVID-19 on The Road Untraveled Podcast

04.20.2020The Road Untraveled Podcast General Partner Ann Dewitt recently shared her thoughts on the impact of COVID-19 on the VC and tech communities.

Who’s Brave Enough to Invest in Saving the Planet?

04.1.2020Scientific American There is, however, at least one bright spot in the world of tech investing. I got a glimpse of it on a recent visit to The Engine, a for-profit venture firm set up in 2016 by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. It is designed to fund ambitious ideas in areas it calls “tough tech”: energy, nanotechnology, quantum computing, immunotherapy and other fields where the technical and regulatory challenges are too daunting for most venture capitalists.

E25Bio seeks OK for coronavirus test that delivers results in 15 minutes

03.31.2020Boston Globe A Cambridge biotech founded by researchers from MIT and Harvard University has developed a diagnostic test for COVID-19 that resembles an over-the-counter pregnancy test and delivers results in about 15 minutes.

E25Bio raises $2M to create rapid COVID-19 test

03.19.2020Crunchbase News E25Bio, a developer of rapid diagnostic tests for dangerous infectious diseases, announced this morning that it has raised a $2 million financing from storied VC firm Khosla Ventures.

E25Bio COVID-19 test awaits approval from FDA

03.17.2020ZME Science E25Bio is preparing to submit a new and fast Covid-19 test for “emergency use authorization” by the FDA.

Lilac Solutions will deploy its unique lithium extraction tech in California

03.17.2020Los Angeles Times Lilac and the Australian company Controlled Thermal Resources announced they’re partnering to develop a lithium-extraction facility at the Salton Sea.

MIT spinout creates rapid COVID-19 diagnostic test

03.17.2020Psychology Today E25Bio is preparing to submit to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization a cost-effective COVID-19 test that can deliver rapid results in less than 30 minutes.

E25Bio is developing rapid test for COVID-19

03.7.2020NBC News Boston E25Bio says it is developing a test kit that has faster results, which would help slow the spread of the novel coronavirus.

Zapata Computing named top 10 ‘breakthrough technology’

02.26.2020MIT Tech Review Congratulations To Zapata Computing — named a key player in the breakthrough technology of “quantum supremacy” by MIT Technology Review!

The Engine at MIT is revving up the potential of ‘tough tech’

02.25.2020Boston Globe If you happen to bump into Bill Gates or Tim Cook in Central Square, odds are good that they’re heading to The Engine, writes Boston Globe’s Scott Kirsner in his profile about the firm.

Venture capital investors should harpoon more whales

02.25.2020Financial Times Financial Times’ John Thornhill interviews Katie Rae to learn more about The Engine’s unique venture model for investing in Tough Tech companies.

Lilac Solutions raises Series A with more sustainable way to extract lithium for batteries

02.20.2020Financial Times Oakland-based Lilac Solutions says its ion exchange technology will enable a “massive increase in lithium supply needed for electric vehicles” from brine-based deposits.

Lilac Solutions raises $20 million in Series A funding

02.20.2020Bloomberg Lilac Solutions has developed a process for extracting lithium that drastically cuts water use, writes Bloomberg.

Interview with Shreya Dave, co-founder and CEO of Via Separations

01.9.2020My Climate Journey My Climate Journey’s podcast interviews Via Separations on industrial separations and climate change.

Roundup: Investments To Watch

01.2.2020Crunchbase Katie Rae kicks off 2020 by sharing with Crunchbase some of the Tough Tech startups to watch this year.

Term Sheet readers predict a bigger focus on profitability, inclusivity, and ethics in 2020

12.17.2019Fortune What are VC trends in 2020? With increasing constraints on carbon, “we will see a renewed interest in cleantech and a shift away from a resource-based energy economy toward a technology-based energy economy,” The Engine’s Katie Rae tells Fortune.

The 20 startups to watch in Boston in 2020

12.16.2019BostInno Congrats to Boston Metal and Zapata Computing — named by BostInno as among the top 20 startups to watch in 2020!

Air Force selects Analytical Space for $3m award

11.13.2019Space News Congratulations to portfolio company, Analytical Space — selected for the $3 million award at Air Force Space Pitch Day!

Syzygy Plasmonics & Via Separations: 2019 startups to watch

11.11.2019Chemical & Engineering News Congrats to portfolio companies Syzygy Plasmonics and Via Separations — recognized as 2019 “10 Startups to Watch” by Chemical & Engineering News Magazine!

isee: first self-driving truck investment for Founders Fund

11.11.2019Business Insider isee raises $15M Series A led by Founders Fund with participation from existing investors including The Engine.

Boston is third in the U.S. when it comes to raising capital

11.7.2019Inc. Magazine The November issue of Inc. Magazine includes The Engine & Katie Rae in its profile of Boston’s thriving tech ecosystem.

Can venture capital make America do tough things again?

10.28.2019Greentech Media Katie Rae discusses venture capital and tackling the toughest technologies on this episode of the Interchange podcast.

Crunchbase Q&A with Katie Rae

10.28.2019Crunchbase News Crunchbase News chats with The Engine’s Katie Rae on what’s next for investments and Tough Tech innovation.

Nature Outlook reports on Radix Labs

09.25.2019Nature Radix’s tech aims to free biologists from worrying about the details of the machines in their labs and how they execute an experiment.

Form Energy wins BostInno 50 On Fire award

09.23.2019BostInno Congrats to Form Energy on BostInno’s 50 On Fire award.

TIME features Commonwealth Fusion Systems

09.18.2019TIME Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ new superconducting materials to build a fusion power plant has the potential to revolutionize electricity, writes TIME.

Vaxess Technologies wins 2019 Xconomy Award

09.13.2019Xconomy Congrats to Vaxess Technologies for taking top spot in the “Innovation at the Intersection” category at the 2019 Xconomy Awards. C

Press release: E25Bio raises $2.3m

08.26.2019E25Bio E25Bio is pioneering a rapid diagnostic technology that can detect mosquito-borne illnesses in minutes instead of weeks.

Form Energy closes $40M Series B

08.22.2019Form Energy Form Energy is developing and commercializing ultra-low-cost, long-duration energy storage systems.

Syzygy Plasmonics raises nearly $6m to produce cleaner hydrogen

08.19.2019MIT Technology Review Investigating how light-harvesting nanoparticles like those used by Syzygy could curb climate emissions.

Press release: Syzygy Plasmonics raises $5.8m

08.19.2019Syzygy Syzygy is creating a new photocatalytic chemical reactor powered by light from renewable electricity instead of heat from burning fuel.

Press release: Cambridge Crops raises $4m in seed funding

08.9.2019Cambridge Crops Cambridge Crops is pioneering silk-powered technology that is applied to food to slow the exchange of gases that cause decay.

Axios Pro Rata: Commonwealth Fusion Systems

06.28.2019Axios Axios discusses Commonwealth Fusion Systems’ $115 million Series A funding.

Fortune: Vaxess Technologies closes Series A

06.28.2019Fortune Vaxess Technologies closed its $8.2 million Series A round. The Engine led the round.

Cambridge fusion energy startup completes $115 million funding round

06.28.2019Boston Globe CFS said the funding will allow it to demonstrate its high-temperature superconducting magnets by 2021 and a power plant prototype by 2025.

Vaxess Technologies lays out its path to the clinic

06.27.2019Boston Business Journal Vaxess Technologies chats with Boston Business Journal about its Series A and its partnerships ahead of the first clinical trials.

Press release: Vaxess Technologies closes final tranche of $8.2m series A

06.27.2019Vaxess Vaxess Technologies today announced it has closed the final tranche of an $8.2 million Series A round. Led by The Engine.

A Boston startup developing a fusion reactor just got a roughly $50m boost

06.27.2019TechCrunch Commonwealth Fusion Systems raises $115 Million and closes Series A round to commercialize fusion energy

Kytopen raises $3.6m

05.28.2019Fortune Kytopen, a startup accelerating the discovery and manufacturing of cell therapies, announced it has raised $3.6m in seed financing.

Zapata Computing raises $21m

04.30.2019Forbes Zapata Computing raises $21 million to bring quantum computing to enterprise applications.

Fusion power startups go small to bring commercial reactors to life

04.27.2019NBC News Mach NBC News interviews Commonwealth Fusion Systems.

AI’s many challenges must be thoughtfully addressed

03.17.2019VentureBeat Education will play a foundational role in shaping the next two decades in computing and AI research, says The Engine’s Katie Rae.

Via Separations raises $4.8m round

03.15.2019Xconomy Via Separations, a startup developing energy-efficient filtration technology, has raised $4.8 million in a Series A funding round.

3 women-led Boston venture capital firms to know

03.12.2019Built in Boston What’s one misconception about women VCs that Rae wants to clear up? “That there are no women VCs,” she said in an interview with Built In Boston.

Fast Co’s World’s Most Innovative Companies of ’19: Analytical Space

02.20.2019Fast Company Congratulations to Analytical Space - recognized by Fast Company as one of the World’s Most Innovative Companies of 2019!

Why this venture capitalist is tackling ‘Tough Tech’

01.10.2019Fortune Magazine “Venture capitalist Katie Rae is trying to prove that “Tough Tech” is worth the tough work.”

Boston Metal raises $20m Series A

01.9.2019Fortune “A critical piece to achieving a carbon-free world is the decarbonization of steel production,” said Katie Rae, managing partner and CEO of The Engine.

Forbes 30 Under 30 (2019): Marinna Madrid, Nabiha Saklayen, Stan Wang

11.11.2018Forbes Stan Wang, a physician-scientist, and two physicists, Nabiha Saklayen and Marinna Madrid, teamed up in 2017 to start Cellino, a portfolio company.

NYTimes interviews Zapata Computing

10.21.2018New York Times The New York Times interviews portfolio company Zapata Computing about tech talent for quantum computing.

Google partners with Zapata on open-source quantum computing

07.19.2018MIT Technology Review Zapata is one of the first users of Google’s new open-source software framework for quantum computing.

VCs are changing term sheets to include provisions on ICOs

07.17.2018Fortune At Fortune Brainstorm Tech, The Engine Katie Rae discussed investment trends and the future of Tough Tech.

Cambridge startup launches satellite from Int’l Space Station

07.16.2018Boston Business Journal Boston Business Journal on how Analytical Space is building the “Cisco of space.”

Press release: Analytical Space deploys first satellite from ISS

07.13.2018Analytical Space Congratulations to the team at Analytical Space on the successful launch of their first satellite from the International Space Station!

MIT Technology Review’s 35 Innovators Under 35

06.27.2018MIT Technology Review Congrats to founders Shreya Dave (Via Separations), Nabiha Saklayen (Cellino Biotech), and William Woodford (Form Energy) — named as world’s top “Innovators Under 35” by MIT Tech Review.

Press release: Zapata Computing launches out of Harvard

05.17.2018BusinessWire Zapata Computing is advancing breakthroughs in computational power for applications on quantum computers.

World’s first quantum software superstore—or so it hopes—is here

05.17.2018MIT Tech Review Zapata Computing could end up with a bird’s-eye view of how applications perform on quantum computers, giving it a big advantage in the market.

‘Tough Tech’ jobs address the world’s biggest problems

03.9.2018Squawk Box CNBC Katie Rae is featured on CNBC's Squawk Box, "We are shooting to create very large companies."

Investing in tech that’s worth the wait

03.8.2018MIT Tech Review Innovations in fields like energy and transportation often take time—and extra support—to develop. The Engine at MIT is helping them make the leap from the lab to the marketplace.

The second coming of ultrasound

01.22.2018Wired “We’ve done small molecules, we’ve done biologics, we’ve tried DNA, naked RNA, we’ve even tried Crispr,” he says. “As superficial as it may sound, it all just works.” Carl Schoellhammer, Founder SuonoBio

MIT launches new venture for world-changing entrepreneurs

11.22.2017MIT News The Engine will provide funding, space, and expertise—powering a network of innovation networks.

Profile: Brent Keller, cofounder, Via Separations

11.14.2017Forbes Keller is cofounder and CTO of Via Separations, which develops membrane materials for separation processes.

This startup plans to use renewable energy to replace fossil fuels

10.19.2017Inc Baseload Renewables has an ambitious goal: use renewable energy to replace fossil fuels as baseload electric power.

Serial battery entrepreneur’s new venture tackles clean energy

10.4.2017MIT Technology Review MIT’s Yet-Ming Chiang has launched a flow battery startup aimed at making renewable energy competitive with fossil fuels.

Forget old batteries. Here comes the energy storage revolution

09.28.2017Wired Energy demands from developing countries are going to grow by about 10% between now and 2040. By that year, they will be using 65% of the world’s total energy supply.

Discover the future of science at The Under 30 Summit in Boston

09.28.2017Forbes Working in a lab is all well and good. What happens when you need to raise money? We sit down with some of the hottest young entrepreneurs in biotech and health tech.

Meet 3 Boston women helping close the gender gap in investing

09.27.2017BuiltIn Boston Katie Rae is CEO and managing partner at The Engine, a venture fund and incubator that focuses on “Tough Tech.”

MIT’s “Innovation Orchard” is investing $200m in Tough Tech startups

09.22.2017Futurism The Engine has announced plans to invest $200m into seven startups. These companies focus on "Tough Tech" areas, including aerospace, biotech, renewable energy, and genetic engineering.

CNBC: Top VC deals this week

09.22.2017CNBC The Engine, a venture firm founded at MIT, announced that its debut fund has expanded to a total of $200 million.

The Engine accelerates to $200m

09.21.2017Global University Venturing The Engine, a US-based program initiated by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) aimed at complex technologies, has raised $200m for its first fund.

The Engine reveals first 7 investments

09.20.2017BuiltIn Boston The Engine announced the first seven companies in its program this week, launching its unique investing experiment in “Tough Tech."

The Engine raises $200m to fund “Tough Tech”

09.20.2017BW Disrupt If you think that too many VCs these days are playing it safe and only looking to back sure bets rather than moonshots and more ambitious ventures.

The Engine, now with $200m, makes first bets: 3 takeaways

09.20.2017Xconomy The Engine announced its first batch of seven investments on Tuesday, and revealed that it has raised $200 million, with plans to back 40 to 50 Tough Tech companies over the next few years.

The Engine announces first investments in seven startups

09.20.2017Techmeme The Engine, founded by MIT in 2016 to focus on tough tech innovations, today announced its investments in seven startups developing breakthrough scientific and technological innovations.

Finally, a driverless car with some common sense

09.20.2017MIT Technology Review Boston’s notoriously unfriendly drivers and chaotic roads may be the perfect testing ground for a fundamentally different kind of self-driving car.

The Engine announces investments, $200m fund

09.20.2017peHUB The Engine announced its first batch of seven investments and revealed that it has closed on $200 million for its first fund, 33 percent more than the $150 million it said it initially raised.

The Engine selects its first seven startups to fund

09.20.2017The Tech The Engine, an incubator and science and technology start-up accelerator founded last year by MIT, released Tuesday the names of the first seven companies it will invest in. The startups work in a broad range of fields, from biotechnology to renewable energy.

Media Coverage

Join our mailing list.