MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition

The MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition is one of the largest and most famous business plan competitions in the world. Entirely student-managed, students from all programs and levels at MIT organize and enter the $100K. Teams must include at least 1 full-time MIT student, but membership is not restricted to the MIT community. The Competition is supported by the MIT Entrepreneurship Center at the MIT Sloan School of Management. Every year - a total of $300,000 is distributed as non-dilutive grant money. Since 1990 the MIT $100K has given birth to over 160 companies, generating 4,600 jobs, receiving over $1.3 billion dollars in venture capital funding and have a cumulative market value of over $15 billion Throughout the academic year, the teams take part in a process that includes:

The competition started in 1990 as the $10K competition, and continued to grow throughout the 1990s. In 1996 the $10K evolved into the $50K with $30K going to the winner and $10K each of two runners-up. In 2006, the $50K added another competition focused on business plans for low-income communities to complement the traditional business venture competition. Subsequently, the competition has rebranded as the MIT $100K.

The MIT $100K Pitch Contest is put on every year by the MIT $100K organizing committee. It is held in the fall of each year and is intended to provide a way for entrepreneurs with ideas to form teams. It is considered a warm-up event for the Executive Summary Contest held in the winter and the Business Plan Contest held in the spring. In the Elevator Pitch Contest, each contestant is given 60 seconds in front of a crowd to give their "elevator pitch," with the winner receiving a cash prize. This contest is open to the public.

The MIT $100K ACCELERATE Contest has replaced the MIT $100K Executive Summary Contest in 2011. It is held in the winter of academic year and is intended to help teams build a robust prototype for their start-up idea. Teams will work on creating a demo of their idea over December and January, and the best demos will be presented in the ACCELERATE Finale Show to a crowd of hundreds. MIT $100K will be providing resources and mentorship to help teams build their demos which will be reviewed by a panel of judges with the winner receiving a cash prize.^[1]

The MIT $100K Launch Contest is the flagship of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. In the spring, semi-finalists are selected from all business plan submissions. LAUNCH is the final contest in the $100K cycle. Participants present full-scale business plans for the chance to win a $100,000 Grand Prize.

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