Supporting Startups

Headquartered in Boston, Neltner Labs focuses on helping startups turn their new idea into a product.

Brian Neltner, the lead consultant, has a Ph.D. from MIT in Materials Science with BS degrees from MIT in Physics and Materials Science, did a PostDoc in Chemical Engineering at CU Boulder studying catalysts and atomic layer deposition, has extensive experience with designing custom electronics and controls/sensors, and has been working as a consultant for over a decade in many different disciplines.

This broad background makes Brian well suited to help with small businesses where he can assist in overall systems engineering and translating scientific discoveries into products that pair novel science with an eye towards identifying key technical specifications and a path to manufacturing. Brian excels at mentoring junior employees to help startups build up their own internal resources to avoid long term reliance, the goal is to augment your team without limiting long term internal expertise in all aspects of your technology.

Brian is also very familiar with Steve Blank’s Lean Startup model and can assist with research to help with your business model canvas or design SBIR grants for NSF, DOE, USDA, and has worked closely with collaborators at NREL, LBL, PNNL, Berkeley University, and UMass Amherst. Brian has the technical expertise to research tricky problems and identify options and recommendations for solutions.

Brian has a variety of patents and publications as noted in his curriculum vitae. His Ph.D. research was used to found Siluria, he has previously worked at Ambri, Navolta (founder), and Visolis, and currently works part time managing a teaching lab at MIT. Due to conflict of interest concerns, Neltner Labs cannot help with projects funded by MIT labs but is able to assist with projects from other universities or with projects after they are funded from non-MIT sources.

Get in touch to set up a consultation, or use the contact form at the bottom of this page to start a conversation.