Raising money in Boston: venture capital firms, angels and accelerators

Key takeaways

• Selling shares, convertible notes or any other stake in your company is a securities offering, and the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) requires either registration or an exemption such as Rule 506(b) of Regulation D.
• Form D is due to the SEC within 15 days after the first sale in a Rule 506 offering, and the SEC charges no fee to file it.
• The Massachusetts Securities Division charges a Rule 506 notice filing fee of $250, $500 or $750, depending on the size of the offering.
• An individual is an accredited investor with income over $200,000 ($300,000 with a spouse or partner) in each of the prior two years, or net worth over $1 million excluding a primary residence, according to the SEC.
• MassVentures awards 16 SBIR START grants of $100,000 each in Round 1, and its application window reopens February 1, 2027.
• Boston venture capital firms in this site’s directory include Glasswing Ventures on Newbury Street, Suffolk Technologies on Allerton Street and Bain Capital on Clarendon Street.

Owners and founders in Boston, Cambridge and Somerville who want outside investors have three main places to look: venture capital firms, angel investors and accelerators. Venture capital is money that a professionally managed fund puts into a young company in exchange for an ownership stake. Boston venture capital firms mostly back companies built to grow fast in software, artificial intelligence, life sciences and hard science. A restaurant, shop or trade business is more likely to use a bank loan or a grant.

The sections below cover which firms and programs you can approach, how angels and accelerators differ from funds, the federal SEC rules that apply the moment you sell a stake in your company, and the notice filing the Commonwealth of Massachusetts collects. The City of Boston does not regulate securities offerings; these rules are federal and state.

What is venture capital, and which Boston businesses does it fit?

Venture capital fits a Boston business that can grow many times over and that is willing to give up part of its ownership. A venture capital firm raises a fund from outside investors, buys stock in startups, and earns its return when a company is sold or goes public. Each new share sold dilutes the founders: the SEC glossary says existing stockholders are left “with a smaller percentage ownership interest in the company.”

Most small businesses are not candidates. For an established, profitable company, the U.S. Small Business Administration licenses more than 300 Small Business Investment Companies (SBICs), which are privately owned funds that invest debt, equity or both. According to the SBA’s investment capital page, a typical SBIC loan ranges from $250,000 to $10 million and a typical equity investment from $100,000 to $5 million, and SBICs “typically target mature, profitable businesses.”

Which Boston venture capital firms are in the directory?

Boston venture capital firms with a listing in this site’s directory include the four below. Read each firm’s stated stage and sector before you send a pitch.

• Glasswing Ventures, 275 Newbury Street in the Back Bay, says it invests in early-stage AI-native and frontier technology companies in enterprise and cybersecurity markets.
• Suffolk Technologies, 65 Allerton Street in Boston, describes itself as a venture capital platform for companies in construction, architecture, engineering, real estate and infrastructure.
• Bain Capital, 200 Clarendon Street, invests in startups through Bain Capital Ventures, which says it incubates ideas, leads seed rounds and funds growth-stage companies.
• Reinventure Capital, listed in Somerville, says it leads seed extension and Series A rounds in companies with $1 million or more in revenue that are led by women founders or founders of color.

Two Cambridge organizations in the directory supply space instead of checks. The Engine, at 750 Main Street, is a nonprofit incubator and accelerator created by MIT in 2016. LabCentral, at 700 Main Street, rents shared lab space to early-stage life science startups.

How do angel investors differ from venture capital firms?

Angel investors differ from venture capital firms because they invest their own money, while a firm invests a fund raised from others. The SEC glossary defines angel investors as “generally high-net-worth individuals who invest their own money directly in emerging businesses.” Angels often invest through a convertible note, which the SEC defines as a loan “that can be converted into a different security.”

Massachusetts gives angels in one sector a tax incentive. Under the Angel Investor Tax Credit regulation, 830 CMR 62.6.5, an investor in a qualifying life sciences business can claim a credit of 20% of the investment, or 30% if the business is in a Gateway Municipality. The regulation limits qualifying investments to $125,000 per business per year and caps an investor’s credits at $50,000 per taxable year. A qualifying business has 20 or fewer full-time employees and gross revenues of $500,000 or less. The credit is codified at M.G.L. c. 62, s. 6(t), and the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center takes the applications.

Which accelerators and public programs fund Massachusetts startups?

Accelerators and public programs that fund Massachusetts startups include MassVentures, the federal SBIR and STTR programs, and university accelerators at MIT and Harvard. An accelerator, in the SEC’s definition, is “an organization that supports entrepreneurs and early-stage businesses seeking to scale.”

• MassVentures runs a Venture Fund for seed-stage deep tech companies based in Massachusetts and reviews applications year-round. Its SBIR START program awards 16 grants of $100,000 in Round 1, seven of $200,000 in Round 2 and up to $500,000 in Round 3 to Massachusetts companies holding federal SBIR Phase II awards. MassVentures says the next window opens February 1, 2027.
• SBIR and STTR are federal research grant programs coordinated by the SBA and funded through 11 agencies. SBIR.gov calls the money “equity free” and lists agency limits of $335,937 for Phase I awards and $2,239,578 for Phase II awards as of October 16, 2026.
• MIT delta v, run by the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship in Cambridge, advertises $75,000 in equity-free funding per team. The 2026 cycle took applications from March 1 to April 1.
• Harvard Innovation Labs supports ventures with founders from all 13 Harvard schools, and its Student i-lab serves more than 3,000 members a year.

What SEC rules apply when you sell shares to investors?

SEC rules treat any sale of shares, notes or other stakes as a securities offering that must be registered or fit an exemption. Most startup rounds use Rule 506 of Regulation D. The table compares three exemptions as the SEC describes them.

Exemption	How much you can raise	Who can invest	Advertising
Rule 506(b)	Unlimited	Accredited investors, plus no more than 35 non-accredited investors in any 90-day period	No general solicitation
Rule 506(c)	Unlimited	Accredited investors only, and you must take reasonable steps to verify each one	Allowed
Regulation Crowdfunding	$5 million in a 12-month period	The public, with limits on non-accredited investors	Online through an SEC-registered broker-dealer or funding portal

Form D is the notice a company files with the SEC after it relies on Rule 506. According to the SEC’s Form D page, the notice is due within 15 days after the first sale, which is the date the first investor is irrevocably committed to invest. Form D is filed online through the SEC’s EDGAR system, and the SEC charges no filing fee. Shares bought under Regulation Crowdfunding generally cannot be resold for one year.

Who counts as an accredited investor?

An accredited investor is a person or entity that meets the SEC’s financial or professional tests for buying unregistered securities. The SEC’s accredited investor page, last updated April 24, 2026, lists these tests:

• Net worth over $1 million, excluding a primary residence, alone or with a spouse or partner.
• Income over $200,000 alone, or $300,000 with a spouse or partner, in each of the prior two years.
• A Series 7, Series 65 or Series 82 license in good standing.
• For entities such as corporations, LLCs and trusts, assets or investments above $5 million.

The exception matters to anyone raising from friends and family. Rule 506(b) allows up to 35 non-accredited investors in a 90-day period, but Rule 506(c) allows none.

What does Massachusetts require when you raise money?

Massachusetts requires a notice filing and a fee for a Rule 506 offering, even though federal law preempts state registration. The Massachusetts Securities Division, part of the Secretary of the Commonwealth’s office at 1 Ashburton Place in Boston, enforces M.G.L. c. 110A, the Massachusetts Uniform Securities Act. Its corporate finance overview sets the Rule 506 notice fee by offering size under 950 CMR 14.402(B)(13).

Total offering	Massachusetts Rule 506 notice fee
$0 to $2,000,000	$250
Over $2,000,000 to $7,500,000	$500
$7,500,001 or more	$750

Fees paid to the Securities Division are not refundable under 950 CMR 14.412. The Division’s page does not state the filing deadline, so read 950 CMR 14.402(B)(13)(l) or call the Division at 1-800-392-6090 before your first sale.

Can you advertise a fundraising round or pitch at a demo day?

Advertising a fundraising round is allowed under Rule 506(c) and barred under Rule 506(b). The SEC’s general solicitation page lists newspaper ads, unrestricted public websites, and television and radio broadcasts as examples of general solicitation.

Demo days are the exception. A pitch at a qualifying demo day is not general solicitation, the SEC says, when the sponsor is a college, university, state or local government, nonprofit, angel investor group, incubator or accelerator, and when the event’s advertising does not mention a specific securities offering. What you say about the offering itself is limited to a short list of facts set out on the SEC page.

What should you recheck before you act?

Every figure in this guide was checked on November 13, 2026. Confirm these before you sign a term sheet or accept a check:

• Accredited investor thresholds, the Regulation Crowdfunding limit of $5 million and the 15-day Form D deadline: SEC small business pages at sec.gov.
• Massachusetts Rule 506 notice fees of $250, $500 and $750, and the filing deadline: Massachusetts Securities Division, 1-800-392-6090.
• SBIR and STTR award limits, which were listed as of October 16, 2026: SBIR.gov.
• MassVentures SBIR START grant counts and the February 1, 2027 opening date: MassVentures.
• Angel Investor Tax Credit rates, caps and whether applications are open: Massachusetts Life Sciences Center and the Department of Revenue.
• MIT delta v funding and 2027 dates: the Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship.

This guide is general information, not legal or tax advice. Rules and fees change; confirm the current requirements with the agency named before you file or pay.

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