Labshares

Labshares is a shared laboratory incubator for early-stage biotech companies, with space in Newton and an expanding presence in Watertown. Its model is all-inclusive: startups rent open benches or private lab suites in BSL-2 space and get access to more than $15 million in lab equipment, an onsite reagent supply and a procurement platform with built-in discounts. The goal is to let a young company start research within days instead of spending months building its own lab.

The operating team brings decades of experience in equipment maintenance, calibration, safety and permitting, and the equipment inventory is reviewed regularly to keep up with new technology. Flexible terms let companies grow in place rather than relocate. Diagonal Therapeutics, an antibody drug developer, is one example: it joined at the end of 2022 with four employees, grew to 17, moved into multiple private suites and raised $128 million within a year.

What to Know

• The current facility offers about 44,000 square feet of shared and private lab space.
• Parking is free and the site is roughly 20 minutes from Kendall Square and Logan Airport.
• A new Watertown building, where Labshares leases all four floors, is scheduled to open its second phase in November 2026.
• The Watertown expansion adds a rooftop event space, an executive boardroom and private shuttles to Harvard Square and Boston.