The kickoff was held at Studio9, a recording and live music space attached to the Porches Inn.
“We're here today to announce the launch of the Massachusetts Founders Network," said Lever Executive Director Jeffrey Thomas. "We call it MFN- A little easier to say. This is a hybrid digital and human platform to help startups in Massachusetts advance more quickly. Time and money are startup founders’ most precious resources, and our hope is that MFN will save them time and help them access funding.”
Thomas said it’s the first such program of its kind in the commonwealth, and could be a national first.
“It's a platform for inclusion," he continued. "It'll support startup founders at any stage, with or without any startup experience, and irrespective of their backgrounds. And it will be available to those startup founders at no cost. MFN will be a community building tool. It'll bring together startup founders help connect them with experts, investors, and technical support. And we're particularly excited that it's going to help startup founders connect and access the resources at the superb system of incubators and accelerators and collaborative workspaces at centers of excellence that already exists here in Massachusetts.”
Lever was founded in 2014, and bills itself as a leader in “innovation-driven job creation” by supporting entrepreneurs with the resources they need to succeed in the marketplace.
“MFN is supported by our state's quasi-governmental entities, including Mass Tech Collaborative, the lead funder for the Massachusetts Founders Network, with sponsorships from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center and from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, and we're eager to launch a project with Mass Ventures,” said Thomas.
Massachusetts Secretary of Economic Development Yvonne Hao was on hand to voice her office’s support for the fledgling MFN.
“In our state, we have such an innovation engine," she said. "That's what's really propelled us we're the number one receiver of NIH grants, one of the top receivers of venture funding, we have so much technology coming out of all of our schools around AI and quantum and software and fintech. So, this Massachusetts Founders Network, I think, will help us strengthen and even lengthen our lead there and also connect folks across the state to all of our regions.”
Democratic State Senator Paul Mark hailed the collaborative spirit behind the MFN.
“Throughout my time in the legislature, and even when I worked at the phone company before, you would run across people with good ideas, but maybe not the know how or the capital to just get those ideas up and running," he said. "And so having an opportunity like this here in North Adams, here in Northern Berkshires, I think is going to lead to more people taking that risk, trying to make their idea heard, and hopefully finding the support that they need. And at the same time, what place could be better than North Adams and Northern Berkshires? We are right next to Williams [College], we're right next to MCLA, we're not that far from UMass and other colleges in the region. And while on one hand I'm not looking forward to driving to Boston after this, we're actually not that far from Boston, not that far from New York City, not that far from Albany, not that far from Montreal, even.”
Mayor Jennifer Macksey was the last local leader to speak.
“I'm so excited about the network, and how it will open the state's innovation economy by strengthening not only the network, but creating virtual mobility throughout," she said. "I'm particularly excited about how this project will showcase North Adams and Berkshire County. We are small but we are mighty, and this is one example of how we can do so much.”
