It’s hard to find a place that truly blends purpose with practicality, but Innovation Studio pulls it off.
This nonprofit isn’t just about providing space — it’s about creating opportunities for entrepreneurs to turn ideas into businesses and for communities to come together in meaningful ways.
The team at Innovation Studio, led by Executive Director Ashley Medeiros and Director Jordan Elster, operates with a clear mission: to connect people, foster innovation, and help businesses grow. Whether it’s an early-stage entrepreneur learning to pitch or a corporation renting space for an event, Innovation Studio manages to bridge two seemingly different worlds with impressive results.
At its core, Innovation Studio is a nonprofit on a mission. As Medeiros explains, their goal is simple yet vital: “to support entrepreneurs and innovators from idea stage through launch and small businesses in their growth.”
For over 15 years in Boston and 8 years in Rhode Island, Innovation Studio has been a key player in fostering ecosystems where businesses and ideas can thrive.
But the operation isn’t traditional. Innovation Studio is a dual force. On one side, it’s a provider of cohort-based programs that support early-stage entrepreneurs and small businesses. On the other, it operates as a social enterprise with its physical innovation centers, which generate revenue to fund those very programs. The two sides complement each other, even if they operate in parallel.
“Our event and innovation centers serve a completely different audience,” Medeiros points out. “It’s pretty transactional — corporations, visitors, and organizations renting spaces. But the revenue keeps our mission alive.”
“Community” is a word that coworking professionals toss around a lot, and it’s easy for it to lose meaning. At Innovation Studio, however, community is carefully nurtured in two very distinct ways.
For the entrepreneurs participating in its programs, community takes the form of close relationships built over time. Cohorts come together to collaborate, train, and share their ideas. The Studio organizes networking events, pitch nights, and small marketplaces to showcase the businesses being built.
“We host events to spotlight the people going through our programs,” Elster explains. “It’s a way to give them exposure to the space and the wider community. Panel discussions, pitch nights — these events help bridge the gap between our programs and our spaces.”
Meanwhile, in the innovation centers, the community is more fluid. Organizations book space for meetings or events, often returning because they know the team will meet their needs.
“People rent from us because they’ve used our spaces before,” says Medeiros. “It’s very transactional, but the trust we’ve built over the years brings them back.”
Supporting early-stage entrepreneurs isn’t without its hurdles. According to Medeiros, a major challenge is funding.
“There’s just not as much funding available to offer resources,” she says. Innovation Studio has had to scale down its ecosystem of partners because of it. “It’s a transition, but the entrepreneurs who come to us, especially those working in our same ecosystem, understand what we do and trust us to help them succeed.”
Another challenge has been adapting to new physical spaces. Innovation Studio previously managed District Hall in Boston’s Seaport district, a groundbreaking venue that helped ignite growth in the area. But transitioning to a new location brought its own set of quirks and required reintroducing clients to the new space.
“District Hall was very different from the space we have now,” Medeiros says. “Every venue has its audience and unique characteristics, and it takes time to figure out the right fit.”
In a world where remote work is commonplace, why invest in physical spaces? For Innovation Studio, the answer is clear: it’s about connection.
“You could run programs from a park bench,” Medeiros jokes, “but having a space allows us to gather, host events, and bring people together.”
The innovation centers provide more than just revenue. The space creates opportunities for entrepreneurs to meet clients, showcase their work, and access resources. Elster highlights how these spaces enable what coworking professionals call “beneficial collisions.”
“I talk to event hosts and attendees all the time,” Elster says. “I’ve been in this ecosystem long enough to know who’s who, and I love introducing people to others who can help them. Sometimes it’s an international group renting space, sometimes it’s someone from our cohort. Those collisions happen here.”
For the entrepreneurs using the space — some of whom rent offices—the buzz of activity is a good thing. As Medeiros puts it, “It’s exposure. When members see events happening, it’s a chance to network and grow.”
Managing a space like this isn’t easy, especially when you’re balancing monthly members with external bookings. That’s where Coworks comes in.
“We chose Coworks because it can handle both memberships and external bookings seamlessly,” Elster explains. “There were very few platforms that could do both well, and we needed that flexibility.”
Innovation Studio’s space is uniquely designed, with event spaces woven between offices and common areas. Coworks allows them to manage the operational complexity while staying focused on their mission. For Medeiros and Elster, the software simplifies day-to-day logistics, so they can do what they do best: building relationships and supporting entrepreneurs.
As Innovation Studio looks ahead, its leaders are thinking big. They’re exploring ways to expand their programs, including white-labeling their successful models for other organizations.
“We have great program models that integrate with Salesforce,” Medeiros shares. “We’re looking at ways to share those tools with others who want to serve their own communities without reinventing the wheel.”
For coworking operators and innovation hubs everywhere, there’s something to learn from Innovation Studio’s approach. By balancing mission-driven programming with revenue-generating spaces, they’ve built a sustainable model that keeps both community and innovation at the heart of everything they do.
As Medeiros says, “Relationships are everything. For a new business to succeed, they need contacts. And we’re here to help them make those connections.”
Innovation Studio proves that when you bring the right people together, amazing things happen.
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