# Matteo Lai

> Matteo Lai is the Italian co-founder and CEO of Empatica, based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Trained in architecture, engineering and innovation management, he worked on the Digital Water Pavilion for Expo Zaragoza 2008 before building a company spanning wearable hardware, software and data science. His career also connects product design with interactive art, including Empatica’s Cocoon installation and its 2026 Dataland collaboration.

- **Role:** Chief Executive Officer and co-founder at Empatica
- **Organizations:** Empatica, Carlo Ratti Associati, Endeavor, Taaac, Shicon
- **Nationality:** Italian
- **Education:** Double MSc in Architecture, Politecnico di Milano and Politecnico di Torino, Master in Innovation Management (described as a diploma in Crunchbase), Alta Scuola Politecnica
- **Known for:** Credited designer on the Digital Water Pavilion for Expo Zaragoza 2008., Co-founded and continues to lead Empatica., Selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur in 2016.

## Career timeline

- **2007** — Named among the designers of the Digital Water Pavilion by MIT News.
- **2008** — Digital Water Pavilion built for Expo Zaragoza; Lai is credited on the architecture team.
- **2011** — Co-founded Empatica with Simone Tognetti and Maurizio Garbarino.
- **2014** — Empatica combined with Physio; Rosalind Picard joined the venture.
- **2015** — Signed a public account of a watch-band redesign and delayed Embrace shipments.
- **2016** — Selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur in Boston; Embrace received a Red Dot Product Design award, with design credited to Pearl Studios.
- **2017** — Endeavor Catalyst invested in Empatica.
- **2022** — Empatica presented Cocoon and announced Series B financing led by Sanofi Ventures and RA Capital Management, with Black Opal Ventures participating.
- **2026** — Empatica announced a custom EmbracePlus collaboration with Dataland in Los Angeles.

## Achievements

- Credited designer on the Digital Water Pavilion for Expo Zaragoza 2008.
- Co-founded and continues to lead Empatica.
- Selected as an Endeavor Entrepreneur in 2016.
- Led Empatica during the development of Embrace, a 2016 Red Dot Product Design award recipient; product design credited to Pearl Studios.

## Latest updates

- **2026-09** — Empatica published a retrospective of its summit, including Refik Anadol’s presentation on the Dataland collaboration.
- **2026-05** — Empatica announced a custom consumer version of EmbracePlus for Dataland’s immersive art experience in Los Angeles.

## Links

- Website: https://www.empatica.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matteolai
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/matteolai
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/matteo.lai

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/matteo-lai
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-26