Opportunity

MIT Water Innovation Prize

A startup competition focused on water innovation that awards up to $30K in innovation grants annually to student-led teams from across the country and internationally

Sponsored by: MIT Water Club

The MIT Water Innovation Prize is a startup competition focused on water innovation that awards up to $30K in innovation grants annually to student-led teams from across the country and internationally. The Prize started in 2015 and has since awarded $100K to 12 teams.

As the main innovation-focused event of MIT Water Club, we help emerging entrepreneurs translate research and idea into businesses, access mentors and resources, and build networks in the water industry. All approaches to water innovation are welcome, from engineering and product design, to policy and data analytics.

Details

General rules:

  • The entry must involve a technology, product, service, or process aimed at solving a problem related to the world’s water challenges. The water space has numerous opportunities and challenges to solve related to policy, technology, data sensing, analytics, implementation, financing, end-to-end solutions, etc. We encourage diverse and creative submissions.
  • A team must be comprised of at least one student who is fully enrolled at any college or university, and it must be a student who presents the pitch.
  • At least one presenter from the team must be available to attend the final pitch showcase on the MIT campus in Cambridge, MA on April 18, 2019 (some travel support will be available for finalists).
  • Teams are not eligible to participate in the Spring 2019 MIT Water Innovation Prize if they have secured combined funding, grants, prize money, or revenue greater than $100k (exclusive of funding explicitly awarded for research, technology, or product development).
  • Entering teams must be prepared to provide documentation to validate any claims that are made concerning the intellectual property (IP) underlying their business plans, including any claims concerning the licensing of third-party IP. Entries should be made with the full understanding of MIT’s regulations on Intellectual Property Rights.
  • Innovations at all stages are welcome to apply; however, past winners of the prize have been able to demonstrate the potential to take their innovation to market within a reasonable time horizon (~5yrs).

Prize payments are treated as income by MIT and the IRS, regardless of whether the payment is made to an individual or a company. Non-U.S. citizens are taxed on their prize money up front at a rate of 30%, which is withheld from their prize checks.

Application deadline: January 15, 2019

For more information, and to apply, visit the Water Innovation Prize website.