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Funding resources

Here you will find a list of opportunities within the MIT ecosystem to help you fund your research or start your future enterprise (last update: Aug 2024). At the end of the page, you will also find a list of fellowships.

Innovation & Entrepreneurship Resources
  • MIT Innovation Office: build the innovation infrastructure that stewards the entire process of innovation—from idea through impact—by connecting, enabling, and inspiring MIT’s most innovative people, programs, places, and partnerships. https://innovation.mit.edu/
  • MIT Venture Mentoring Service (VMS): supports innovation and entrepreneurial activity throughout the MIT community by matching both prospective and experienced entrepreneurs with skilled volunteer mentors. https://vms.mit.edu/
  • Office of Foundation Relations (OFR): optimize philanthropic support to the Institute from foundations. https://foundations.mit.edu/
  • MIT  Technology Licensing Office: bridge connections from MIT’s research community to industry and startups, by strategically evaluating, protecting, and licensing technology. https://tlo.mit.edu/
MIT start-up incubators for accelerating entrepreneurship and building future enterprises
  • The Engine backs founders solving the world’s biggest problems through the convergence of breakthrough science, engineering, and leadership. https://www.engine.xyz/
  • MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition has brought together students and researchers from across MIT and Greater Boston to launch their talent, ideas, and technology into leading companies. https://www.mit100k.org/
  • MIT Solve is a marketplace for social impact innovation with a mission to drive innovation to solve world challenges. https://solve.mit.edu/
  • Abdul Latif Jameel Water & Food Systems Lab Fuelling research, innovation, and collaboration to solve urgent global water and food systems challenges. https://jwafs.mit.edu/
  • NSF created I-Corps to nurture and sustain a national innovation ecosystem that builds upon fundamental research to guide the output of discoveries closer to the development of technologies, products, services, and processes that benefit society. https://icorps.mit.edu/
  • E14 Fund is the early stage venture capital firm from and for the MIT / Media Lab startup community. Their mission is to serve the whole community; their business model is investing in a subset of the community. They invest in scalable, deep tech startups and donate a portion of profits to MIT. They’re usually your first investors and most often help when a company is moving from tackling early science or engineering challenges to building and shipping product to address a real market need, moving from using your scientist brain to using your founder brain. https://www.e14fund.com/
  • Nucleate, a free and collaborative student-run organization that facilitates the formation of pioneering life sciences companies. They have supported many MIT postdoc teams during their startup journey. https://nucleate.xyz/
Travel grants
  • Pivot – A searchable curated database of global funding opportunities (including travel grants).
Funding databases available to the MIT research community
Crowdfunding
  • Crowdfund MIT is an MIT-exclusive, Institute-supported crowdfunding platform that MIT students, teams, faculty, and departments can use to raise funds for their projects, research, groups, and programs. This easy-to-use tool collects gifts, builds cause awareness, and facilitates social sharing. https://crowdfund.mit.edu/
Fellowships

Here’s an extensive list of postdoctoral fellowships you might be eligible to apply for.