An Invitation to all MIT Students to Learn and Experience Entrepreneurship

Seed Funding, Mentorship, and Entrepreneurship Education

MIT Sandbox provides seed funding, mentorship, and tailored entrepreneurship education that empowers student innovators to explore ideas, take risks, and prepare to launch. The goal of the program is to enable any MIT student — inspired to solve a problem with an innovative solution — to learn and experience entrepreneurship. We are an inclusive innovation community.

Interested in applying?

Fall applications for new teams open on September 1st!

Not a Competition

MIT Sandbox accepts teams at all stages of the start-up process who demonstrate a commitment to their idea and a willingness to invest in initial research and planning — the program is not a competition.

Many teams spend 12-18 months in the Sandbox developing into viable startups by leveraging guidance from experienced mentors, insights from startup-related experts, and up to $25K in non-dilutive, cumulative funding.

While it is rewarding to see teams launch successful startups, our mission is educational. Every student who participates in Sandbox gains insight into entrepreneurship and leadership that they will use throughout their careers.

Opening the Door to Entrepreneurship

Each year, Sandbox opens the door to entrepreneurship for hundreds of undergraduate students, master’s students, and PhDs and provides a launchpad where they can strategize, experiment, and grow.

The program runs continuously with three application cycles — fall, spring, and summer. Each cohort is comprised of 350+ active Sandbox teams and 750+ individuals.

Entering teams participate in group mentoring, where they are introduced to a framework of foundational entrepreneurship and business concepts. Teams are encouraged to focus on preliminary market research and refining their problem definition/solution.

Supporting the Start-up Journey

As teams develop their idea within the Sandbox, they apply for additional funding to continue in-depth customer discovery and move into prototype development – often participating in several cohorts.

Teams applying for cumulative funding of $5K+ pitch their idea to the MIT Sandbox Funding Board, who provides feedback, advice and recommends funding up to a total of $25K. All Sandbox funding is non-dilutive and teams maintain rights to their intellectual property (IP).

During each cohort, advanced teams are paired with two mentors who provide personalized advice based on extensive entrepreneurial and management experience. They ensure the team is asking the right questions, developing a plan to validate their assumptions, and making connections with key contacts and resources that will help drive continued progress.

A Learning Experience for All and a Life-altering Experience for Many

MIT Sandbox is often the foundation of a team’s startup journey. Some leverage the many other impactful MIT opportunities, such as $100K Entrepreneurship Competition, D-Lab, PKG IDEAS, MTC delta v, Venture Mentoring Services, and ICorps Spark; some are invited into external accelerators; and some go on to launch and create successful startups. Whether a team’s entrepreneurial journey continues beyond MIT or not, participating in Sandbox is a learning experience for all and a life-altering experience for many.

MIT Sandbox is committed to fostering a culture of equity and inclusion represented by a diverse set of teams who participate in a community where they are supported and experience a sense of belonging.

Within the Sandbox community of diverse thinkers and innovators – students, mentors, staff, expert advisors, and funding board members – we value the unique perspective and experience each individual brings to the program and to the entrepreneurial ecosystem.

At the same time, we recognize the systemic inequities within the entrepreneurial ecosystem that have limited access to funding and support for women, people of color, and other underrepresented groups.

Our goal is to make the opportunity to explore entrepreneurship in MIT Sandbox visible, open, and accessible to students who may not have considered an entrepreneurial path or may not have had entrepreneurial role models.

The program is not a competition – we are an educational program. MIT Sandbox invites and accepts all student-led teams who are interested in learning and experiencing entrepreneurship.

Through MIT Sandbox, we strive to develop a broader and more representative group of diverse, impactful founders empowered to pursue their ideas within and beyond Sandbox.

Interested in applying?