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 overseen by the MIT School of Engineering and is located in the MIT Enterpreneurship Center at the MIT Sloan School of Management.
It was started in 1990 as the $10K competition, and continued to grow throughout the 1990's. 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 an additional competition focused on business plans for low-income communities to complement the traditional business venture competition. Subsequentially, the competition has rebranded as the MIT $100K.
MIT $100K Elevator Pitch Contest
The MIT $100K Elevator 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 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.
MIT $100K Executive Summary Contest
The MIT $100K Executive Summary Contest is put on every year by the MIT $100K organizing committee. It is held in the winter of academic year and is intended to provide a way for entrepreneurs to get early feedback on their business plans. It is considered a warm-up event for the Business Plan Contest held in the spring. Each team submits a two-page Executive Summary describing their idea. Submissions are reviewed by a panel of judges with the winner receiving a cash prize.
MIT $100K Business Plan Contest
The MIT $100K Business Plan Contest is the flagship of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. In the spring, semi-finalists are selected from all business plan submissions. At the awards ceremony, the top team within the business venture competition is awarded $100,000. In 2009, Ksplice won the 20th MIT $100K Business Plan Contest Grand Prize for their rebootless update technology.
Previous Winners - Business Plan Contest
| Year | Winner | Track and Description | Team Members |
| 2009 | Ksplice | Web/IT Track | Tim Abbott, Jeff Arnold, Waseem Daher, Anders Kaseorg |
| 2008 | Diagnostics for All | Life Sciences Track | Michael Frankel, Roozbeh Ghaffari, Jon Puz, Gilbert Tang, Krishna Yeshwant |
| 2007 | Robopsy | Medical Devices (for biopsies) | John Harthorne, Conor Walsh, Nevan Hanumara |
| 2006 | Semprus BioSciences (formerly SteriCoat) | Surface Modifications on Medical Devices | Chris Loose, David Lucchino, Joel Moxley, Mike Hencke and Vipin Gupta |
| 2005 | Balico | Medical Devices | Baruch Schori, Harry Lee, Kathleen Sienko, Jimmy Robertsson |
| 2004 | Active Joint Brace Now:Myomo Inc. |
Medical Devices | Mira Sahney, Kailas Narendran, John McBean, Joe Jackson, Hocking Chen, Raja Surapanani, |
| 2003 | SmartCells | Medical Devices | Todd C. Zion, Robert Bruch, Martin Curiel, John Hebert, Tsafrir Vanounou |
| 1998 | Direct Hit Technologies | Internet search engine | Mike Cassidy (serial entrepreneur), Gary Culliss, Steven Yang |
| 1991 | Stylus Innovation | Barcode-based remote shopping | Krisztina Holly, Mike Cassidy (serial entrepreneur), John Barrus |
Entrepreneurship for Development Competition
The Entrepreneurship for Development Competition is a competition for business plans that are judged on the following criteria: uniqueness of business idea, management strength, path to sustainability and social impact. The competition was added in 2006 as a complement to the Business Venture Competition due to increasing demand and interest in socially conscious ideas. In the spring, semi-finalists are selected from all business plan submissions. Semi-finalists submit more detailed business plans and 5-6 finalists are then chosen. At the awards ceremony, the top team is awarded the Entrepreneurship for Development grand prize.
Previous Winners - Entrepreneurship for Development Competition
In 1998, a dual award within the Venture Competition was awarded to a pair of finalists including Volunteer Community Connection. At the time, VCC was a non-traditional entry into the competition and has since served as a motivating example for the genesis of the MIT $100K Developmental Entrepreneurship Competition. As a result, they are listed as a winner and implicitly as an innovator within the Entrepreneurship for Development Competition.
| Year | Winner | Description | Team Members |
| 2007 | Bagazo | Alternate Fuels from Agricultural Waste | Johan Löfström, Felicita Holsztejn |
| 2006 | CentroMigrante | Sustainable Housing for Migrant Communities | Illac Diaz, Neil Ruiz, Tina Laforteza, Artessa Salvidar-Sali, Bianca Locsin, Chester Yu |
| 1998 | Volunteer Community Connection | The Volunteer Community Connection enables the easy and automated sign-up and management of volunteers with non-profit agencies. | Michael Bryzek, Jonathan Allen, Oumi Mehrotra, Emily Sandberg, Mark Y. Sun |
Notable Companies Formed Through the Competition
Since its founding, the $100K Competition has helped launch more than 60 companies with an aggregate value of greater than $10.5 billion dollars. Prominent $100K alumni companies include Akamai, net.Genesis, and C-Bridge.
| Year | Competition Result | Company | Result | Exit Value |
| 1991 | Grand-Prize Winner | Stylus Innovation | Acquired - 1996 | $12.8M |
| 1995 | Finalist | Harmonix, Inc. | Acquired - 2006 | $175M |
| 1998 | Grand-Prize Winner | Direct Hit | Acquired - 2000 | $517M |
| 1998 | Finalist | Akamai | IPO - 1999 | $26.00 per share |
| 2003 | Finalist | Brontes Technologies | Acquired by 3M - 2006 | $95M |
Related pages
- Best of Biotech - International life science business plan competition
- eChallenge
- Global Security Challenge $500K competition at London Business School
External links
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