Providence Startups to Watch in 2027: Verified Rhode Island Companies in Defense Tech, Maritime, Genomics, Fintech, Health and Materials
Providence is a small capital with a big research base: Brown University, the Rhode Island School of Design (RISD) and the state's hospitals keep producing companies, and the state now pays for lab space, R&D vouchers and seed money to keep them in Rhode Island. The 2026 version of this article listed ten "best" Providence startups, but several had moved away, were not startups, or could not be found at all, and its growth figures had no source. For this 2027 edition we checked every company on its own website and every funding round in the company's or investor's own release, in October 2026. The names that dropped out, and why, are listed near the end.
Quick answer: the Providence and Rhode Island startups to watch in 2027 are Havoc (autonomy software for drones and uncrewed boats, $100 million Series A), REGENT (electric seagliders, $240 million Series B), Nabsys (electronic genome mapping, moving into a new Providence headquarters), Splitwise (the expense-sharing app), Empath Labs (formerly Sproutel), XM Therapeutics, Shellf Life and EpiVax. Behind them stand Rhode Island Commerce's Innovation Vouchers, the Rhode Island Life Science Hub and its Ocean State Labs incubator, Brown's Nelson Center, the Slater Technology Fund, RIHub and the Social Enterprise Greenhouse.
Are you getting customers from ChatGPT yet?
More and more traffic is coming from Perplexity, ChatGPT, Grok and other AI tools.
👉 Rank on ChatGPT
Why Providence Matters for Founders in 2027
Three things make Providence worth a look. First, research spin-outs: Nabsys, EpiVax and XM Therapeutics all grew out of Brown labs, and Shellf Life began as a RISD thesis. Second, the ocean: Rhode Island's coastline and defense industry explain why two of the best-funded companies on this list, Havoc and REGENT, build for the water. Third, the state is actively buying a life science cluster: the Rhode Island Life Science Hub opened Ocean State Labs, the state's first life science incubator, in May 2026, and Nabsys chose to expand its headquarters in Providence.
The scene is small, which cuts both ways. Programme managers, investors and founders know each other, so an introduction is one coffee away; but some companies, as you will see below, move their headquarters once they scale. Comparing cities? See our guides to Baltimore startups to watch, Chicago startups to watch and San Diego startups to watch.
Providence Startups to Watch in 2027 Compared
Sources: each company's official website and press releases, Insight Partners' investment announcement, Brown University news and the Slater Technology Fund portfolio, checked 29 October 2026. "None cited" means we found no funding announcement we could link.
The Providence Startups to Watch in 2027
1. Havoc: autonomy software for drones and uncrewed boats
Havoc builds software that lets one operator task and supervise many autonomous vehicles across air, sea and land. Its products are Havoc C2 (control), Havoc Insights (analytics), Havoc Connect (communications on degraded networks) and Havoc OS (onboard autonomy), under the line "Autonomy is a software problem". Its website lists its headquarters in Rumford, Rhode Island, just east of Providence. In a release datelined Providence on 12 May 2026, Havoc announced a $100 million Series A with new investors such as SAIC, Clear Street and Cobalt Capital, and existing backers including Lockheed Martin, B Capital, Scout VC, Outlander VC and UP.Partners, bringing its total to about $200 million since 2024. In September 2026 it announced a partnership with CSBC Corporation, Taiwan, for licensed co-production of autonomous surface vessels.
Lesson for founders: sell the software layer, not the hardware. Havoc's pitch is that autonomy works across many vehicle makers, which lets it partner with shipbuilders instead of competing with them.
2. REGENT: electric seagliders built in Rhode Island
REGENT develops and manufactures all-electric Seaglider vessels, craft that ride on the water and then fly just above it, for fast coastal travel with zero emissions. On 27 August 2026, in a release from North Kingstown, Rhode Island, REGENT announced a $240 million Series B, an equal mix of equity and debt, co-led by Mare Liberum and AE Ventures with debt from Erebor Bank, taking its total to more than $340 million. The money goes into production at its 255,000-square-foot Seaglider Manufacturing Facility in Rhode Island, and the company says its commercial order book spans six continents. A week later, on 2 September 2026, REGENT announced the world's first human-crewed Seaglider flight. It also runs a defense line, REGENT Defense.
Lesson for founders: hardware needs patient, mixed capital. Half of REGENT's round is debt, which lets it build a factory without giving up as much equity.
Boost Your SEO by Getting Featured in Our Blogs and get a backlink.
We publish content about startups, education, tech, funding, etc. that ranks well not only in Google but also in Perplexity, ChatGPT, Grok and other AI tools.
👉 Get featured now!
3. Nabsys: genome mapping, staying in Providence
Nabsys makes electronic genome mapping instruments that find structural variants in DNA: the benchtop OhmX Analyzer, the cloud software Nabsys Navigator and, since October 2026, RepX for repeat expansion analysis. Its about page says it began in 2005 as a merger of two small startups from the Brown University ecosystem. In August 2024 Hitachi High-Tech acquired a majority interest, making Nabsys a subsidiary of its group. On 14 July 2026 Nabsys announced a new 30,000-square-foot headquarters on the whole seventh floor of 225 Dyer Street in Providence's 195 District, with the move planned for July 2027, supported by a state Qualified Jobs Incentive tax credit and a Rhode Island Life Science Hub award.
Lesson for founders: a corporate partner can be a path to scale without leaving home. Nabsys stayed in Providence after Hitachi took control, and the state helped pay for it to grow there.
4. Splitwise: the expense-sharing app made in Providence
Splitwise helps housemates, travellers, couples and friends keep track of shared expenses and who owes whom. It is free for iPhone, Android and the web, and Splitwise Pro adds receipt scanning, charts, currency conversion and more. Its about page calls it a Providence, RI-based company and says it hires at its Providence headquarters and remotely. In April 2021 Insight Partners announced that it had led Splitwise's $20 million Series A, to fund hiring, international growth and partnerships with fintech and financial services companies.
Lesson for founders: a consumer app can be built far from Silicon Valley. Splitwise built an app used around the world from a Providence headquarters and raised its Series A on traction.
5. Empath Labs (formerly Sproutel): play-based tools for sick children
Empath Labs says it is "the evolution of Sproutel", the Providence studio known for companion toys for children with chronic illness. It now designs pediatric patient engagement programmes for hospitals and clinical trials: Clinical Companions for children and teens in trials, Rufus the Bear with Diabetes, My Special Aflac Duck, a social robot for children with cancer and sickle cell disease, and the Purrble calming toy. The company reports that 188,000 families use its programmes and 550 US hospitals use them, and its address is 60 Valley Street in Providence. We found no recent funding announcement.
Lesson for founders: design skills travel. A consumer toy studio became a B2B health company by selling to hospitals and drug makers who need patients to stay engaged.
Boost Your SEO by Publishing Your Startup Press Release with us.
We publish content about startups, education, tech, funding, etc. that ranks well not only in Google but also in Perplexity, ChatGPT, Grok and other AI tools.
👉 Publish Press Release
6. XM Therapeutics: a Brown spin-out at Ocean State Labs
XM Therapeutics develops therapies that target the extracellular matrix, the network of molecules between cells, to repair tissue in chronic diseases such as heart disease and scarring. Its website lists an address at 225 Dyer Street, Providence. According to Brown University, it was co-founded in 2022 by Brown's Jeffrey Morgan and Frank Ahmann and leases space at Ocean State Labs, which opened on 13 May 2026. It is also listed in the portfolio of the Slater Technology Fund. We found no published round size, so we cite none.
Lesson for founders: university spin-outs in Providence now have a local next step. A shared lab bench at Ocean State Labs is far cheaper than leasing a lab alone.
7. Shellf Life: building material from restaurant shells
Shellf Life turns post-consumer shellfish shells from local restaurants and aquaculture partners into what it calls an architectural-grade regenerative material: cement-free, resin-free, kiln-free and carbon-capturing. It makes tiles, surfaces and objects such as the Ripple basin, handmade in its microlab at 50 Sims Avenue in Providence's Valley neighbourhood. Founder Felicia Neuhof developed the process as a Master of Architecture student at RISD, starting in her kitchen, and the company was a 2024 Terra Carta Design Lab winner. We found no funding announcement.
Lesson for founders: a local waste stream can be a moat. Shellf Life's raw material is free, nearby and comes with a story buyers care about.
8. EpiVax: the veteran Brown spin-out now adding AI
EpiVax is not a young startup, but it is one of the clearest examples of a Providence company built on university research. It helps biologic and vaccine developers predict and manage immunogenicity, the risk that the immune system reacts against a drug, with in silico tools such as the ISPRI suite and iVAX and with lab assays. Its about page says it spun out of Dr. Annie De Groot's TB/HIV research lab at Brown in 1998, and it lists its office at 188 Valley Street, Providence. In 2026 it announced a laboratory expansion in June and AI-enhanced immunogenicity prediction models in September.
Lesson for founders: deep expertise compounds. A spin-out co-founded by a woman scientist from a single Brown lab is still shipping new products almost three decades later.
Where Providence Founders Get Support in 2027
These are the programmes we could confirm on their official pages in October 2026. Most are open to companies that commit to building in Rhode Island:
- Rhode Island Commerce Innovation Vouchers: grants of up to $75,000 for R&D with a Rhode Island university, college or hospital (Knowledge Provider Voucher) or in-house R&D by a manufacturer (Manufacturing Voucher). Applicants need 500 or fewer employees and at least 51% of staff in Rhode Island. Funding is awarded in rounds; the autumn 2026 round ran from 6 October to 3 November 2026, with priority for advanced materials, ocean economy, defense, energy, food systems and life sciences.
- Rhode Island Life Science Hub and Ocean State Labs: the state's first life science incubator opened on 13 May 2026 at 150 Richmond Street, with room for up to 30 companies in 30,000 square feet, managed by Portal Innovations with Brown, the I-195 Redevelopment District and L&G. Its Founders Compass programme pays for up to two lab benches and a hot desk for twelve months, with up to $250,000 across all cycles for up to eight companies that have raised no more than $5 million and earn under $1 million a year. Founding members include MindImmune Therapeutics, a University of Rhode Island company that capped a $30 million Series A in December 2025 for its Alzheimer's antibody.
- Brown's Nelson Center for Entrepreneurship: B-Lab is an 8-week full-time summer accelerator with a $4,000 fellowship, open to Brown and RISD students (applications due mid-February); the Brown Venture Prize awards $50,000 in equity-free funding ($25,000, $15,000 and $10,000) to ventures with at least one current Brown student founder, with Pitch Night in mid-March.
- Slater Technology Fund: an evergreen, not-for-profit seed fund that calls itself Rhode Island's leading seed-stage investor; it reports $44.1 million invested in software, energy and life science companies that commit to building locally.
- RIHub: a not-for-profit at 225 Dyer Street that offers free Venture Mentoring Service, a Customer Discovery Course, Pitch Scrub sessions and events such as New England Female Founders.
- Social Enterprise Greenhouse: incubator and accelerator programmes for impact ventures, free help from 250+ expert volunteers and below-market coworking at 10 Davol Square.
- CIC Providence: the coworking anchor of the 195 District at 225 Dyer Street, home to 250+ companies, with coworking from $365 a month and private offices from $800 a month on its default page.
Women founders can add the funds in our lists of grants for female entrepreneurs and female founder grants; if you plan to expand to Europe, see the grants for early-stage startups in Europe.
Providence Startups From the Old List That Moved, Changed or Could Not Be Verified
The 2026 version of this article listed ten startups. Here is what we found when we checked each one, plus two well-known names that have changed since:
- IntusCare (Intus Care): founded in 2019 by Brown students, with its first CareHub install at PACE of Rhode Island. But its January 2025 and April 2026 press releases are datelined New York and its website gives no Providence address, so we no longer list it as a Providence startup. In April 2026 it took a majority growth investment from Blue Star Innovation Partners.
- Upward Health: an in-home medical group whose website gives its address in Hauppauge, New York, not Providence.
- Beeline: the old article described a gig-work app; beeline.com today is a workforce management company for contractors, and its site gives no Providence address.
- Lifespan Solutions: Lifespan, Rhode Island's hospital system, became Brown University Health in October 2024. It is a health system, not a startup.
- NAILX and Biolution: we found no company website, registration or press coverage under these names. For a real Providence materials startup, see Shellf Life above.
- Ocean State Labs: not a startup but the state's incubator; the old "$16M deal" line is replaced by the official facts in the support section.
- Utilidata: the grid and data-center power company renamed itself Karman in September 2026, and its website now gives an Ann Arbor, Michigan address.
- Venture Café Providence: its old website forwards to Venture Café Global, whose list of 16 locations no longer includes Providence. Check CIC Providence's events page instead.
We also removed the old article's unsourced "15% increase in tech enterprises" figure, the unsourced funding and user numbers, and links to third-party list sites.
Which Providence Startup Should You Learn From?
- You build defense or dual-use tech: study Havoc's software-first model and REGENT's mix of commercial and defense customers.
- You build hardware: study REGENT's equity-plus-debt round and its own factory.
- You spin out of a university lab: study Nabsys, EpiVax and XM Therapeutics, and apply to Ocean State Labs and the Slater Fund.
- You build a consumer app: study Splitwise, which raised its Series A on traction.
- You come from design or art school: study Shellf Life (RISD) and Empath Labs, which turned design into health and materials businesses.
How Founders Use Providence's Startup Scene
Start with the free and cheap help: RIHub mentoring, the Social Enterprise Greenhouse, a coworking desk at CIC, and B-Lab or the Brown Venture Prize if you are a student. Use an Innovation Voucher to pay a local university or hospital for R&D, and Founders Compass if you need a lab bench. Then look beyond Rhode Island for capital: compare angel investors in North America, early-stage VC firms and deep tech VCs in North America, and pitch at the startup competitions in North America.
Weighing where to build? Our guides to startup cities in North America, Mbabane startups to watch and the startup cities directory help you compare. Before you copy any of these business models, validate your startup idea with real customers. When you want to get noticed, publish your startup press release and write about your product with the F/MS AI SEO Tool so customers and AI assistants can find you.
Is your startup on ChatGPT?
More and more traffic is coming from Perplexity, ChatGPT, Grok and other AI tools.
👉 Rank on ChatGPT
FAQ About Providence Startups to Watch in 2027
Which Providence startups should I watch in 2027?
Our verified list: Havoc, REGENT, Nabsys, Splitwise, Empath Labs, XM Therapeutics, Shellf Life and EpiVax. Each one's Rhode Island base and facts were checked on its own website or in its own or its investor's release in October 2026.
Which Rhode Island startup has raised the most money?
Of the companies we checked, REGENT: it announced a $240 million Series B in August 2026, taking it to more than $340 million in total. Havoc raised a $100 million Series A in May 2026, about $200 million since 2024.
Are Havoc and REGENT in Providence?
Both are in the Providence area of Rhode Island: Havoc lists its headquarters in Rumford and datelined its Series A release in Providence, and REGENT is based in North Kingstown, where it builds its Seagliders.
Is Splitwise based in Providence?
Yes. Splitwise's about page calls it a Providence, RI-based company, and its footer says it is made in Providence.
What is Ocean State Labs?
Rhode Island's first life science incubator, opened on 13 May 2026 at 150 Richmond Street in Providence. It has room for up to 30 startups, is managed by Portal Innovations and is backed by the Rhode Island Life Science Hub, Brown and the state.
What grants can Providence startups get?
Rhode Island Commerce Innovation Vouchers of up to $75,000 for R&D, the Life Science Hub's Founders Compass lab-space awards, and for Brown students the $50,000 Brown Venture Prize and B-Lab fellowship.
Can RISD students join Providence startup programmes?
Yes. Brown's B-Lab summer accelerator is open to full-time Brown and RISD students, and Shellf Life is an example of a company that started as a RISD thesis.
What happened to Intus Care, Upward Health and Beeline?
IntusCare's recent releases are datelined New York, Upward Health is based in Hauppauge, New York, and beeline.com is a workforce management company with no Providence address, so they are listed as changed rather than featured. NAILX and Biolution could not be found at all.
Where can I get a backlink by writing about my startup?
You can publish a guest post in one of the Fe/male Switch startup blogs, which rank in Google and in AI tools. Get a quality backlink.
About the Author
Violetta Bonenkamp, also known as MeanCEO, is an experienced startup founder with an impressive educational background including an MBA and four other higher education degrees. She has over 20 years of work experience across multiple countries, including 5 years as a solopreneur and serial entrepreneur. Throughout her startup experience she has applied for multiple startup grants at the EU level, in the Netherlands and Malta, and her startups received quite a few of those. She’s been living, studying and working in many countries around the globe and her extensive multicultural experience has influenced her immensely.
