Current landlord MassMutual has hosted MassChallenge for free at 10 Fan Pier Boulevard<\/a>. But the insurance company informed the nonprofit a year ago that it wanted the space back. So the hunt was on for free or discounted space somewhere else, and for a landlord that would welcome MassChallenge\u2019s roughly 10,000 visitors a year.<\/p>\n Working with Ryan Hurd at brokerage Cushman & Wakefield, the nonprofit considered leaving Boston, as it checked out places in Somerville and Cambridge. <\/p>\n 401 Park owner Alexandria Real Estate Equities showed considerable interest. The lab landlord and developer acquired 401 Park<\/a> from Samuels & Associates in 2021. Alexandria initially planned to convert it into a life sciences-focused building. But the glut of labs in the area prompted Alexandria to widen the aperture, to include tech and innovation tenants, for 401 Park and other properties it owns in Boston and Cambridge.<\/p>\n \u201cIt was pretty easy for us to think about how MassChallenge could play a role in further solidifying our innovation economy with respect to that campus,\u201d said Hunter Kass, Alexandria co-president and regional market director. \u201cWe ran pretty fast at the opportunity and saw ourselves as partners with them.\u201d<\/p>\n The space won\u2019t be free, but Alexandria is offering MassChallenge a significant break on the market rate rent.<\/p>\n Robby Bitting, MassChallenge\u2019s chief of staff, said the idea of leaving the Seaport wasn\u2019t easy to embrace at first. MassChallenge got its start with its first cohort in 2010 at One Marina Park Drive. About five years later, it relocated to Jamestown\u2019s Innovation and Design Building, and then moved back to Fan Pier about five years ago.<\/p>\n \u201cWe took a lot of pride in our role in helping to build this neighborhood,\u201d Bitting said. \u201cIt feels like I\u2019ve watched the neighborhood grow up.\u201d<\/p>\n MassChallenge\u2019s approach has changed, too. When Bitting joined as an intern in 2012, the main focus was hosting groups of more than 100 startups for four-month stretches. Now, it runs smaller, overlapping cohorts \u2014 maybe around a dozen a year \u2014 of 10 to 40 startups each. The entrepreneurs no longer have to move to Boston to participate, though they do need to show up in person two or three times a month. <\/p>\n The bulk of MassChallenge\u2019s $8.5 million annual budget is funded by contracts with big companies and government agencies that pay for startup competitions aimed at solving particular problems.<\/p>\n The organization also just landed its largest single individual donation, a $2 million gift<\/a> from Joshua and Amy Boger to create an \u201cInnovation Fund.\u201d Joshua Boger, best known for leading Fan Pier neighbor Vertex Pharmaceuticals, was an early MassChallenge supporter, and its first board chair.<\/p>\n It\u2019s how Boger came to meet Alkeus Pharmaceuticals cofounder Leonide Saad; Boger ended up as executive chairman and a shareholder at Alkeus<\/a>, which makes treatments for blindness, after leaving Vertex. Boger\u2019s new donation followed the sale of Alkeus<\/a>, a MassChallenge alum from 2011, to Tarsus Pharmaceuticals for up to $800 million.<\/p>\n The donation will support MassChallenge CEO Cait Brumme<\/a>\u2019s five-year plan to double the organization\u2019s size, based on revenue and startups served, by 2030. <\/p>\n \u201cWe think there\u2019s more that we can do that\u2019s new to support the Boston ecosystem,\u201d Brumme said.<\/p>\n MassChallenge\u2019s new Fenway headquarters will have nearly 90 desks, Bitting said, enough to accommodate as many as 150 startups in various tranches over the course of a year. About a third of them typically are based in the Boston area.<\/p>\n So will the Fenway-Kenmore area become Boston\u2019s new \u201cInnovation District?\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cI think it already is,\u201d Bitting said. \u201cWe\u2019re going to bring a lot of energy. Ten thousand people a year will certainly help. … The momentum in Boston right now is undeniable, and a lot of it is coming from that area.\u201d<\/p>\n Jon Chesto can be reached at jon.chesto@globe.com<\/a>. Follow him @jonchesto<\/a>.<\/p>\n![\"401](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/10\/QKH4AREY7BZHYD7MN6FTE3LFCA.jpg\")
401 Park, as seen in this January 2021 photo.David L. Ryan\/Globe Staff<\/p>\n