Our History
A Track Record of Venture Success
MassVentures was founded in 1978 when there were fewer than 20 venture capital firms in the world. Formerly known as the Massachusetts Technology Development Corporation (MTDC), MassVentures was established as a quasi-public corporation by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts to address the capital gap for startup companies and to encourage the growth of early-stage technology firms. Our enabling and governing legislation is Chapter 40G of Massachusetts General Laws as amended in 1993 and 2002.
Our initial funding came from a $2 million grant awarded by the Economic Development Administration (EDA), a division of the U.S. Department of Commerce. From 1980 through 2015 we received an additional $1 million from the EDA and $8.5 million net from the Commonwealth.
In 2020, the EDA awarded MassVentures $500,000 under the CARES act, and in 2022, MassVentures received additional federal funds through SSBCI v2.0 from the Department of Treasury.
Our primary mechanism for creating economic impact is our venture fund through which we have supported hundreds of companies with capital and thousands more with business guidance over the past decades. This Fund is managed as an “evergreen fund” which uses gains realized from past investments as the primary source of funds for its operations and investments.
Our success is driven by our people and our hands-on approach to supporting founders with advice and introductions to employees, customers and capital. MassVentures operates as a profitable enterprise by managing a variety of non-dilutive grant programs.
MassVentures is one of the oldest and longest running venture capital firms in the world, but our achievements come in part from doing things differently than traditional venture capital. As of December 2024, MassVentures had received a net total of $8.5 million in Massachusetts taxpayer dollars. For every $1M received (inflation adjusted), MassVentures supported:
41,000 total job years
$7 billion in total state GDP
$429 million in total state and local tax revenue
$12 billion in total output
Read more about our impact and download the report.
We are proud of the impact we have had and are grateful for our partnerships with academia, entrepreneurs, industry leaders, government, and all those who make up the innovation ecosystem in Massachusetts.