Cambridge, MA–Lila Sciences, the Flagship Pioneering-backed artificial intelligence startup, has signed a 235,500-square-foot lease at Alewife Park in Cambridge, marking the largest lab lease in Greater Boston during the third quarter of 2025, as reported by the Boston Business Journal (BBJ).
The lease spans two buildings—1 and 5 Alewife Park—and represents a major milestone in the young company’s meteoric rise since its March 2025 launch. According to BBJ, the space is being delivered in “lab-ready shell condition” and will require a full buildout before occupancy.
The new facility is part of Alewife Park, a 26.5-acre life sciences campus being developed by IQHQ Inc., which includes five lab and office buildings. The deal was brokered by CBRE, which also noted that leasing activity in the life sciences market surged by 150% in Q3 compared to Q2—though vacancy rates still reached a record high of 27.7%, driven by nearly 800,000 square feet of speculative space entering the market without pre-leases.
Lila Sciences has been one of the most closely watched startups in the life sciences and AI sectors this year. After launching with $200 million in seed capital, the company raised a $235 million Series A round, reaching a valuation of approximately $1.23 billion—officially entering unicorn territory, BBJ said.
Founded in Flagship’s Cambridge labs in 2023, Lila Sciences is developing what it describes as a “scientific superintelligence platform.” The aim is to power fully autonomous laboratories capable of running advanced experiments in life sciences, chemistry, and materials science with minimal human input. The technology blends massive scientific datasets with AI to generate hypotheses, design experiments, and interpret results—essentially reimagining the scientific method through automation and computation.
As BBJ previously reported, Lila had around 100 employees earlier this year and…