A look back (and forward) with the NYU Tandon Future Labs

New York has long been known as a global hub for a wide variety of industries, from tech and finance to the arts and entertainment. This year, the city took a major step in establishing itself as a center of the digital game world with the launch of the NYU Tandon Game Design Future Lab (GDFL), an incubator aimed at providing new game designers with personalized and strategic mentorship, industry-specific and fundamental business workshops, investor outreach, access to new technologies, and network building – everything they need to push the boundaries of what games can do and succeed as an enterprise.

The GDFL is just the latest addition to the NYU Tandon Future Labs, an entrepreneurial network that also encompasses the Data Future Lab, which incubates early-stage businesses working in the areas of computing, artificial intelligence, machine learning, digital technologies, and technologies based on mix reality, among others; the Urban Future Lab, which was established in late 2014 as a non-profit innovation hub for best-in-class climatetech startups, with a focus on clean energy and sustainable urban infrastructure solutions; and the Veterans Future Lab, a 2016 addition aimed at supporting enterprises founded by the nation’s military veterans or their spouses.

Still evolving at 15

The Future Labs got their start in 2009, after New York City officials realized the need to diversify the economy of the city by encouraging entrepreneurial activities and a start-up culture. That year, the city’s Economic Development Corporation joined forces with NYU Tandon to open the Varick Street Incubator, the first in what would become a powerful network of facilities that have, since their inception, supported well over 400 new companies that have collectively raised $4.6 billion and created almost 10,000 jobs.

Startups emerging from the Future Labs have an astonishing 93 percent success rate, flipping the national average, in which 90 percent ultimately fail, on its head. That figure comes as no surprise: it was very soon after that first downtown Manhattan facility opened that a Business Insider reporter wrote: “It’s very rare that a joint effort between the public, private, and education sector comes together to produce meaningful results. However, The Varick Street Incubator may be a shining example and roadmap for other cities to follow...”

The network, now housed on the 7th floor at 370 Jay Street, has seen several milestones on the way to its 15th birthday, including:

• The 2009 launch within the Varick Street facility of the NYC Accelerator for a Clean and Resilient Economy (NYC ACRE) in partnership with NYSERDA (the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority), NYC's first climatetech incubator
  
• The 2014 launch of CleanStart, an educational certificate program to assist entrepreneurs and professionals in transitioning to the climatetech industry
  
• A partnership forged in 2016 between the Data Future Lab and ff Venture Capital (ffVC) to run New York City’s first program to launch and support AI startups
  
• The 2017 establishment of the Urban Future Prize Competition
  
• The establishment, in 2018, of several new initiatives, including Catalyst NYC, a six-month accelerator program, equity-free and offering access to University talent, faculty and resources valued at up to $350,000; H2 Refuel, the first technology-themed accelerator at the Urban Future Lab, which would later become the model for the Carbon to Value Initiative; and Apex, a year-long incubator program for pre-seed and seed stage ventures led by U.S. Military Veterans and Spouse
  
• The Data Future Lab’s 20th startup being acquired in 2019, for a combined total of over $530 million from their portfolio/graduate companies
  
• The Urban Future Lab’s 2020 partnership with the British government to launch the Innovate UK Global Incubator for climatetech startups interested in getting a foothold in the U.S.
  
• The 2023 launch of the Offshore Wind Innovation Hub, aimed at supporting offshore wind startups and contributing to New York State's renewable energy targets

A fitting celebration

The Future Labs celebrated the 15th anniversary at an event in December 2024 featuring several speakers who extolled the impact the network has had on the city. Among them was Tandon’s Vice Dean for Research, Linda Ng Boyle, who said: “Since 2009, the Future Labs have supported startups in many sectors that include AI, emerging media, clean energy, and more recently, the offshore wind innovation hub. They have provided guidance, expertise, resources, and a community of like-minded people ... I am looking forward to not just 15 more years, but 50 more!”