
innovation labs
Every successful venture starts somewhere, but ideas that travel are the ones that grow. Launch Lab X GEO is a global ecosystem where Harvard alumni ventures come to connect with each other, deepen their relationships, and take their work to scale in unexpected and powerful ways. Continue your learning in our diverse community and find the people who will help inform your next steps.
LLX GEO virtual events are opportunities to have real conversations about what it takes to create viable, disruptive, adaptable businesses and share your venture with the global innovation community.
The Harvard Innovation Labs’ method is adaptive, milestone-based, and most importantly, customized. We know that one size does not fit all, and venture teams need different kinds of support at different stages in their growth process.
Teams who use our method de-risk their business model, validate their value proposition, and build strong relationships. Good things follow. We’ll offer you knowledge, expertise, and support to help you build your venture through our curated network of mentors, industry insiders, and learning resources. We also know that no two entrepreneurs’ paths are the same and due to systemic inequities, entrepreneurs face very different challenges. We aim to help you navigate these challenges by connecting you with the right people and resources.
One of the most compelling advantages of LLX GEO is building your business in an intentional and diverse community of motivated, generous, like-minded innovators.
As a woman founder of color in FinTech, I sometimes feel out of place and lonely, but my LLX GEO cohort and the Harvard Innovation Labs team remind me every day (with so much positivity, light, and enjoyment!) that I’m right where I belong. TANG app and I would not be the same without this LLX GEO community. Thank you!”
— Rebecca Kersch
Founder, TANG app
Building relationships and sharing experiences with your fellow founders is fundamental to the power of this program. The program launches with an in-person orientation session on campus at the end of September. This includes team-building events and foundational programming that provides opportunities for the founders to learn, connect, and be inspired.
How do you learn to delegate as you grow?
How do you build a remote development team?
What do equitable hiring practices actually look like?
Learn from remarkable leaders with incredible entrepreneurial stories who have been where you are now.
These talks connect you with founders from a wide range of industries and backgrounds who have built and scaled successful startups and are eager to share their learning. These small groups, closed conversations are opportunities to listen to founders speak candidly about how they made their business work and overcame challenges along the way. Listen to their invaluable insights as you learn from their unique approaches, wins, and failures.
From designing your first product roadmap to developing a growth marketing strategy to hiring new team members and scaling culture, we connect you with experienced thought leaders who can help. You’ll learn which kinds of VCs and partners to seek funding from (including how much from whom), and how to tackle common challenges to raising capital. We’ll provide you with practical “how to” knowledge and advice to help you advance your venture.
Led by later-stage entrepreneurs and leaders within the Harvard Innovation Labs, these facilitated conversations are where founders go deep, share their entrepreneurial challenges, and inspire each other. Founders gather for monthly meetings where two founders discuss their objectives and key results, and the full group takes a deep dive into the challenges and opportunities they face. Often, coaches bring in guests to talk through problems and host roundtable discussions, for example, on fundraising or managing an overseas development team. These sessions are an opportunity to strategize together and learn not only from experts, but from your peers.
During these sessions, you get all the practice you need to pitch your venture effectively, with precision and heart. We’ll put you in front of a diverse group of accomplished founders and investors with a proven track record of thought leadership so that you get constructive feedback and advice on how to help people understand the potential of your venture.
Once you have a viable business, growing your venture is all about relationships.
If you’d like to stay up to date on new alumni programs and events as we roll them out, please sign up for our newsletter Press Thirteen.
LLX GEO is open to for-profit and non-profit Harvard alumni-founded ventures across a wide range of industries. Your venture should be a pre-seed to seed stage venture working towards product-market fit. Ventures that are admitted into the program may have achieved some of the following milestones: monetization as proof of demand, an ongoing or completed pilot study, and/or meaningful feedback and traction from end-users.
Once accepted, remember, you are part of an incredible alumni community. Just as founders, experts, and investors give time to this program, we hope you’ll generously support our student teams by sharing your advice and expertise with them.