20 Jul 2017

Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Solve Global Challenges for Entrepreneurs 2017

Application Deadline: 1st August 2017
Eligible Countries: All
To Be Taken At (Country):
  • MIT Massachusetts, Boston
  • New York, USA (Pitching)
Global Challenges:
  1. Brain Health: How can every person improve their brain health and mental resilience?
  2. Youth, Skills and the Workforce of the Future: How can disadvantaged youth learn the skills they need to prepare them for the workforce of the future and thrive in the 21st century?
  3. Sustainable Urban Communities: How can urban communities increase their access to sustainable and resilient food and water sources?
  4. Women and Technology: How can women and girls of all socioeconomic backgrounds use technology to fully participate and prosper in the economy?
About the Award: Solve at MIT is an flagship annual event held on the MIT campus in Cambridge, MA, bringing together over 300 leaders from the tech industry, business, philanthropy, government, and civil society. Solvers and their solutions will be featured on stage, in online and written materials, and through dedicated challenge workshops. Solve staff will continue supporting Solvers to match-make partnerships with our community members who will help make Solvers’ solutions a reality.
Anyone the world-over can participate in a Solve challenge and submit a solution. Whether you’ve just started building your solution and your team, you’re running a pilot, or you’re ready to scale, Solve is looking for innovators and entrepreneurs with the best solutions to these global challenges.
Solvers then gain access to Solve’s community. The Solve staff helps match-make between Solvers and leaders from the tech industry, business, philanthropy, government, and civil society who are seeking partnerships and opportunities to implement innovative, scalable ideas. Partnerships between Solvers and members will be announced at the flagship event Solve at MIT.
Type: Entrepreneurship
Eligibility: 
  • Optimistic solutions. Innovative solutions. Human-centered solutions. Tech solutions. Solutions that need partnerships across industry.
  • From research, to pilot, to growth, Solve accepts solutions at all stages of development. If you’re researching, Solve can help you develop a partnership to pilot. If you’re already piloting, Solve can help you grow. And if you’re already growing, Solve can help you scale.
  • The most important thing is that your solution will solve the challenge posed.
  • At MIT, every solution must include technology — whether new or existing — as a key component.
Selection Process and Criteria: In the first round, Solve staff will perform an initial screening of all applications for completeness, for coherency, and for whether the solution appropriately addresses the challenge. Then Solve judges will score the screened applications to determine finalists. Here are the criteria the judges will use to score the applications on the website:
  • Alignment: Does the solution address the challenge that has been set forth?
  • Scalability: Can the solution be grown and scaled to affect the lives of more people?
  • Potential for Impact: Does the planned implementation of the solution have the potential to impact lives, and does the theory behind how it will work make logical sense? Does the team have a robust plan for monitoring and evaluating the effectiveness of the solution?
  • Novelty: Is this a new technology, new application of an existing technology, or new process for solving the challenge?
  • Feasibility: Is it feasible to implement the solution, and does the team have a plan for the solution to sustain itself financially?
In the second round, each finalist will pitch before the challenge judges and a live audience. The judges will determine which solutions are the most promising. These new “Solvers” will receive support and partnership from the Solve community.
Number of Awards: Not specified
Value of Award: Solve is a community. Once the solutions are selected as Solvers, those teams will gain access to everyone in our community from other Solvers, to Solve staff, to MIT faculty, to leaders from the tech industry, business, philanthropy, government, and civil society.
Solve will work with you to provide:
  • Match-making with Solve community members that can lead to partnerships to fund, pilot, and scale each solution.
  • Funding commitments from our partners if available, as laid out on each challenge page.
  • Mentorship and training opportunities to help you workshop and pitch your solution.
  • Access to our flagship annual event Solve at MIT where Solvers and Solve community members come together.
Duration of Program: 
August 16, 2017 – Finalists announced
September, 2017 – Finalists pitch in New York during the U.N. General Assembly
How to Apply: Select a challenge and submit a proposal to the challenge. Each proposal must include a technology element. The finalists in each challenge will be invited to present their ideas at an event in New York (simultaneous with the UN General Assembly, September 2017), after which the selected winners will be offered partnership opportunities.
It is important to go through the application information in Program Webpage (See link below) before applying.
Award Providers: Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)

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