Innovation and Entrepreneurship

The MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program provides meaningful seed funding (up to $25,000), mentoring from seasoned experts and entrepreneurs, and tailored entrepreneurial education. This program aims to lower the barrier for MIT students to explore entrepreneurship and its potential to create impact.  It is open to all students undergraduate to PhD and is designed to give a very hands-on approach to entrepreneurship, providing them with financial resources and expert advice and coaching. This approach has led to hands-on education for a large number of MIT students, and to the launching of a substantial number of impactful start-ups that were born out of ideas or technologies pursued by students while still in school.

Open To:

• Undergraduate Students
• Graduate Students

SANDBOX

The program incorporates entrepreneurship as a core experience for MIT students, nicely complementing the academic and research experiences.  It cultivates a mindset of resilience, adaptability, and determination, empowering students to drive change and tackle the world’s most pressing challenges. Participants experience authentic entrepreneurship and leadership, explore how to go from concept to impact and learn from failures. They engage with knowledgeable mentors and potential funders and receive assistance from a diverse and supportive community network within the MIT and external innovation ecosystems.

DHIVE

Within Sandbox, DHIVE [pronounced “dive”] focuses on healthcare entrepreneurship, connecting students with industry experts, mentors, and resources to translate ideas into practical solutions that advance human health.  Dhive includes an ideation component that encourages students to find good problems to focus on with the input from industry and medical experts.

The MIT Deshpande Center for Technological Innovation helps passionate faculty-led teams turn breakthrough ideas into real-world impact. Through funding, mentorship, and hands-on guidance, the center supports promising technologies with the potential to transform industries — from health and energy to information technology and beyond. Participants gain insight into the innovation process, learning how to bring inventions from lab to commercialization within MIT’s vibrant entrepreneurial ecosystem.

Open To:

• Faculty
• Graduate Students

The Martin Trust Center for MIT Entrepreneurship helps students connect the problem-solving mindset of engineering with the tools of business innovation. Open to students across the Institute, the Center provides the programs, mentorship, and resources that help transform technical ideas into viable ventures. From MIT delta v, the Institute’s capstone entrepreneurial accelerator, to StartMIT, a two-and-a-half-week innovation bootcamp originally launched by the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, engineering students gain first-hand experience building and scaling new technologies in real markets.

Open To:

• Undergraduate Students
• Graduate Students

The MIT–Royalty Pharma Faculty Founder Initiative supports MIT faculty in translating breakthrough discoveries into biotech ventures that advance human health. Every two years, a cohort of faculty finalists receives targeted mentorship, stipends, and expert guidance in company formation, fundraising, and intellectual property strategy. The program culminates in a prize competition awarding $250,000 to the grand prize winner, $100,000 to a runner-up winner, and $100,000 to an early-stage breakthrough technology winner. By empowering more faculty to launch companies, the initiative helps bring high-impact technologies from the lab to the world.

Open To:

• Faculty at MIT or PI status at an MIT-affiliated institution

Right at MIT’s front door—steps from the Kendall/MIT T stop—iHQ is a hub for the Institute’s makers, thinkers, and doers. The mixed-use building brings together students, faculty, and staff from across MIT’s five schools and the college to collaborate, experiment, and launch new ideas. It’s where connection sparks creativity—and where innovation has a home base.

Open To:

• Faculty
• Undergraduate Students
• Graduate Students
• Staff

Based in the Office of the Provost, the Office of Innovation and Strategy (OIS) advances MIT’s strategic priorities in research, education, and entrepreneurship. Many of the programs associated with its initiatives are administered by the School of Engineering and its departments, where engineering faculty play key leadership roles. Through major cross-Institute initiatives, the OIS accelerates discovery and helps translate ideas into real-world impact.

Open To:

• Faculty
• Undergraduate Students
• Graduate Students
• Staff