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  2. RoboBench
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Shared Infrastructure for Commercialization Readiness

RoboBench is a capital grant opportunity supported by the Mass Leads Act to strengthen the state’s robotics ecosystem. This program supports the development of shared robotics-related infrastructure across Massachusetts to enable cross-sector robotics commercialization. The goal is to improve access to the vital resources robotics groups need to commercialize their hardware such as manufacturing facilities and testing platforms.  These organizations, named below, provide access to critical commercialization resources that small robotics developers often cannot afford independently. 

Awardees

On August 20, 2026, the Healey-Driscoll administration, in partnership with the Innovation Institute, a division of the Massachusetts Technology Collaborative (MassTech), announced that via the RoboBench grant program, $6,571,823 will go to four nonprofit organizations and higher education institutions.

The RoboBench program supports new and expanded facilities, equipment, testing environments and services that help robotics startups, researchers and innovators move from prototype to pilot-stage testing, manufacturing readiness and market deployment.  

logo for Boston University

Boston University

Boston University was awarded $573,381 for the Massachusetts Autonomous Polymer (MAP) Hub, a shared sandbox for polymer research and manufacturing, aimed at polymer development and laboratory robotics groups​. 

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MassRobotics

MassRobotics was awarded $1,998,442 for the Manufacturing Implementation Center (MMIC), a shared manufacturing resource for robotics companies requiring small-batch manufacturing and design-for-manufacturing mentorship to bridge the prototype-to-production gap.​

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University of Massachusetts Amherst

University of Massachusetts Amherst was awarded $2,000,000 for an expansion of the UMass New England Robotics Validation and Experimentation (NERVE) Center to a two-campus statewide robotics evaluation network with lab-based and field-based testing.  

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Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Worcester Polytechnic Institute was awarded $2,000,000 for an expansion of the PracticePoint facility into a full resource for testing and training on medical robotic technologies.  

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