The Engine
VC Fund
Cambridge, United States
The Engine is a VC fund in Cambridge focused on Biotechnology and Health Care. The Engine, which was publicly announced on October 26, 2016, was built by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).Prioritizing breakthrough ideas over early profit, The Engine represents an exciting new system for startup support, one that shortens the time from idea to investment, and from investment to impact.To fuel The Engine,MIT is seeking to attract hundreds of millions of dollars of support and to provide hundreds of thousands of square feet of space for entrepreneurs in Kendall Square and nearby communities, starting with 26,000 square feet in its Central Square headquarters.The Engine provides a physical space where an idea can begin to take shape. It also streamlines the legal processes and agreements required to get products to market. And it links entrepreneurs to “patient capital” from investors who share their vision of addressing big challenges with big ideas.The Engine will eventually support up to 60 locally based startups concurrently; these companies will participate in the accelerator for up to 12 months. The Engine will make meaningful investments that will allow participating startups to get off the ground quickly and operate long enough to prove their concepts’ viability. It will also provide business planning, legal, and administrative support.The Engine will require less equity than is typical, allowing founders to maintain more control over their companies and the ideas they’ve created.Through the Engine Room, The Engine will provide access to a wide network of lab space, specialized equipment, business guidance, and other resources, at MIT and beyond.
- Total investments:
- 87
- Last investment:
- Lead investor:
- 32%
- Fund size:
- $230M
- Last fund:
Last updated:
For AI agents: llms.txt
Industries The Engine invests in
Stages The Engine invests in
Countries The Engine invests in
Round sizes
Contacts
| Name | Phone | Socials | |
|---|---|---|---|
Round size
- Seed
- $2M–$11M
- Series A
- $5.8M–$80M
- Series B
- $16M–$150M
Investment Focus
Industry
- Biotechnology 9 (10%)
- Health Care 8 (9%)
- Software 6 (7%)
- Manufacturing 6 (7%)
- Energy 5 (6%)
Stage
- Seed 27 (31%)
- Series A 22 (25%)
- Series B 12 (14%)
- Funding Round 6 (7%)
- Pre-Seed 5 (6%)
Team
| Name | Title | Investments | Links | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
Benjamin Downing
Vice President of Public Affairs
|
Vice President of Public Affairs | Total investments: 0 | Find email | |
Bettina Metais
VP Investor Relations and Operations
|
VP Investor Relations and Operations | Total investments: 0 | Find email | |
Chloe Holzinger
Associate
|
Associate | Total investments: 0 | Find email | |
Dax Kepshire
Founder and Advisor
|
Founder and Advisor | Total investments: 0 | Find email | |
Dulcie Madden
Partner and Head of Partnerships
|
Partner and Head of Partnerships | Total investments: 0 | Find email | |
| See all 13 team members → | ||||
Investments
| Company | Description | Round | Links |
|---|---|---|---|
Hyperlight
|
HyperLight provides thin-film lithium niobate photonic integrated circuit solutions. They deliver groundbreaking electro-optic and nonlinear optical solutions with scalable manufacturing processes. They work closely with their customers from conceptualization, design, prototyping, and transfer to volume production. | $80M / Series C / Jun 18, 2026 | |
RISE Robotics
|
RISE Robotics is a technology company that develops fluid-free motion control systems for heavy machinery. The company makes the electrification, teleoperation, and automation of heavy machinery economically viable using its hydraulic replacement technology called Beltdraulic. It is a belt-and-pulley-based linear actuation technology thatreplicates—and in some cases surpasses—the force and precision of hydraulic systems, without using oil. This innovation enables machines to operate faster, more efficiently, and with lower emissions while reducing operational costs.RISE Robotics also offers design and implementation support, working closely with OEMs, Tier 1 suppliers, and the U.S. Department of Defense to integrate Beltdraulic solutions into existing systems. Its mission emphasizes boosting machine productivity, reducing maintenance needs, and promoting environmental sustainability through cutting-edge actuation technology. | $1.5M / Series A / Apr 24, 2025 | |
BlueShift
|
BlueShift operates as an electrochemical climate tech innovator. BlueShift unlocks underutilized resources with advanced electrochemical technology. | $2.1M / Pre-Seed / Mar 19, 2025 | |
VEIR
|
VEIR is a company developing a new approach to using high-temperature superconductors for electricity transmission. Its passive evaporative cryogenic cooling delivers 20 times the cooling power per kilogram of nitrogen flow compared to mechanical subcooling. | $75M / Series B / Jan 28, 2025 | |
Osmoses
|
Osmoses engages in decarbonizing gas separations to eliminate one gigaton of carbon emissions per year. | $11M / Seed / Oct 03, 2023 | |
Terrestrial Bio
|
Vaxess is commercializing a proprietary technology that uses a silk-derived protein to stabilize vaccines so they can be stored and shipped without refrigeration and a novel sustained release microneedle for improved vaccine delivery. Vaxess strives to not only lower the cost of vaccine distribution, but also increase access to life-saving productsfor people around the world. | $9M / Venture - Series Unknown / Sep 13, 2023 | |
Amide Technologies
|
Amide synthesizes peptides that are difficult to obtain through existing means, bridging the gap between traditional solid phase peptide synthesis and biological expression. By using unnatural amino acids and artificial protein backbones, our team is expanding what is biologically possible. Amide’s Automated Fast Flow Peptide Synthesizer (AFPS)leverages flow to dramatically improve solid phase peptide synthesis. Using the power of flow, we can generate highly reactive intermediates in situ, maintain excellent heat and mass transfer, and achieve much better synthetic outcomes than alternative SPPS methods. With all these advantages, AFPS allows biopharma pioneers to dramatically re-think what’s possible. Let Amide broaden your horizons with better, faster synthesis. | $7.5M / Series A / Jul 28, 2023 | |
Celestial AI
|
Inorganic Intelligence is a Neuromorphic Photonic AI Computing solution that serves as deep learning and machine learning applications. The company was founded in 2020 by David Lazovsky, Michelle Tomasko, and Preet Virk and is based in San Jose, California, United States. | $100M / Series B / Jun 28, 2023 | |
Celestial AI
|
Celestial AI is a machine learning accelerator company developing an optical interconnect technology platform for data centers and AI solutions. It utilizes the advantages of photonics, mixed-signal ASICs, and advanced packaging to offer a sustainable improvement in computing performance that helps clients deliver superior AI acceleration hardwareand software alternatives. The company's Photonic FabricTM provides the foundational technology for optically scalable, disaggregated data center computing and memory to unleash advancements in AI with sustainable and profitable business models. | $100M / Series B / Jun 28, 2023 | |
Hyfé
|
Hyfé Foods is a biotech company producing ingredients by leveraging fungal fermentation to upcycle water byproducts from food manufacturers. | $9M / Seed / Jun 22, 2023 | |
| See all 87 investments → | |||
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FAQ
What does The Engine invest in?
The Engine invests primarily in Biotechnology, Health Care and Software startups, most often at Seed and Series A stage. Most of the 87 investments tracked by Shizune back companies in United States. The Investment Focus section breaks down every industry, stage and country in the portfolio.
What is The Engine's check size?
The Engine typically joins rounds of $2M–$11M at Seed, $5.8M–$80M at Series A and $16M–$150M at Series B. These ranges are 10th–90th percentile round sizes calculated from confirmed public funding rounds, so they are a realistic guide to the rounds The Engine participates in.
How do I contact The Engine?
Public channels for The Engine include LinkedIn, X (Twitter) and the website linked on this profile. For a verified work email and phone number, create a free Shizune account — contact data is searched across 20+ sources and validated before delivery, so your outreach lands in the right inbox.
Who are the partners at The Engine?
The team at The Engine includes Benjamin Downing (Vice President of Public Affairs), Bettina Metais (VP Investor Relations and Operations) and Chloe Holzinger (Associate), among 13 team members tracked by Shizune. The Team section lists each member with their title, investment count and links.
Is Shizune's investor data accurate?
Yes — every stat on this profile is calculated from confirmed public funding rounds monitored across hundreds of sources since 2020. This profile was last refreshed in Aug 2026 and is updated monthly. Spotted something off? Use the “Suggest an edit” link near the top of the page.
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