MIT Solve

What MIT Solve does

MIT Solve is an initiative of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, founded in 2016 and headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It operates an open innovation platform that sources, evaluates, funds, and supports technology-based solutions to global social challenges across climate, health, learning, economic prosperity, Indigenous communities, and youth innovation. The core product is the Global Challenges Platform, which runs competitive open challenges and custom challenges designed in collaboration with corporate, foundation, and multilateral partners such as Verizon, General Motors, Johnson & Johnson Foundation, Macquarie Group, Amazon, and Truist Foundation. Solver teams apply through a self-serve global funnel; AI-assisted screening built on GPT-4o mini categorizes submissions before human review, compressing review of nearly 3,000 applications to ten days. Selected solvers receive grants, coaching, mentorship, and partnership matchmaking through a structured Solver Support Program.

The business model is nonprofit and donor-funded rather than commercial. Revenue streams include challenge prize funding mobilized from corporate partners and philanthropists, custom challenge partnership fees, and donations to the Solver Impact Fund (100% of which is directed to solvers). Across its first decade, Solve has run over 100 challenges, received 28,200+ applications from 190+ countries, forged 1,000+ partnerships, mobilized $85M+ in funding to 460+ solver teams, and reached an aggregate 430 million+ lives through solver solutions. Customer segments are dual-sided: solver teams (the supply side, served at no cost) and corporate/foundation sponsors (the funding side, served via bespoke challenge design). As an MIT initiative rather than a separately incorporated entity, Solve operates within MIT's governance and has no external investors, cap table, or public revenue disclosure; financial transparency is therefore limited relative to a commercial enterprise.

Name

MIT Solve

Legal name

Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Website

https://solve.mit.edu

Company type

Private

Founded year

2016

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

MIT Solve is an MIT initiative that runs global open-innovation challenges to source, fund, and support technology-based solutions addressing climate, health, learning, and economic challenges, serving social impact entrepreneurs and corporate/foundation partners.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Social Innovation Challenges

NAICS

Computer Systems Design and Related Services (54151), Scientific Research and Development Services (5417)

SIC

Services-Computer Programming Services (7371)

akta.pro primary industry

AI Application Enablement Platforms (Copilot/Agent Frameworks, SDKs) (HDAEANAJ)

Keywords

• Social innovation challenges
• Open innovation platform
• Impact grant funding
• Technology entrepreneurship
• Corporate challenge partnerships

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2B

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Challenge Prize Funding: MIT Solve mobilizes funding from corporate partners, foundations, and philanthropists to award grants to selected solver teams through challenge prize structures.
2. Custom Challenge Partnerships: Organizations partner with MIT Solve to design and launch custom challenges aligned with their social impact goals, with Solve handling promotion, selection, vetting, and support.
3. Solver Impact Fund Donations: Direct donations to the Solver Impact Fund support social innovators, with 100% of support directed to solvers.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels1 record

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

MIT Solve runs open innovation challenges that source technology-based solutions to global problems from social entrepreneurs worldwide. The organization selects solver teams through a competitive application and AI-assisted screening process, awards grants funded by corporate and foundation partners, and provides ongoing coaching, mentorship, and resources to help selected solvers scale their impact across areas such as climate, health, learning, economic prosperity, Indigenous communities, and youth innovation.

Product overview

MIT Solve operates as an open innovation platform run by MIT that sources, funds, and supports technology-based solutions to global challenges. The core offering is the Global Challenges Platform, which runs competitive challenge programs across focus areas including climate, health, learning, economic prosperity, Indigenous communities, and youth innovation. Each challenge program—such as the StepForward Essential Innovation Challenge, Verizon Disaster Resilience Prize, Macquarie Community Resilience Prize, GM STEAM Education Challenge, Future Health Challenge, AI for Humanity Prize, and Truist Foundation Inspire Awards—offers grant funding and a support program to winning solver teams. The platform also produces The Solve Effect Podcast as a content brand. The portfolio spans over 100 challenges run since inception, supporting 460+ solver teams that have reached over 430 million lives.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Global Challenges Platform MIT Solve's core platform for launching and managing open innovation challenges that source technology-based solutions to global problems from anyone, anywhere in the world.
• Solver Support Program Post-selection support program including coaching, workshops, cohort meetings, mentorship matchmaking, and connections to resources that help solver teams scale their impact.
• StepForward: Essential Innovation Challenge A challenge presented with S&P Global Foundation seeking innovative solutions that equip youth aged 18-24 with knowledge, skills, and confidence to navigate an AI-powered future, with $200,000 grants to six winning nonprofits.
• Truist Foundation Inspire Awards A challenge offering more than $1 million in grants and in-kind services to nonprofits helping adult workers adapt to AI-driven workplace changes, with awards ranging from $25,000 to $250,000.
• Verizon Disaster Resilience Prize A prize seeking technology-driven solutions that enable communities in the United States to prepare for, respond to, and recover from weather-related disasters, with $1,000,000 in prize funding distributed among four winners.
• Macquarie Community Resilience Prize A prize seeking scalable, technology-enabled solutions that address climate resilience and workforce training in Brazil, Australia, and Pacific Islands, with up to $1,000,000 awarded to up to 10 winning teams.
• Accelerate STEAM Education: The 2025 GM Challenge A challenge presented with General Motors seeking inspiring solutions that increase STEAM learning in the United States and allow learners of all ages to explore and succeed in STEAM careers, with a $250,000 prize pool.
• Future Health Challenge A global health innovation challenge organized by Future Health in collaboration with MIT Solve, offering $300,000 in prizes for solutions that shift health systems from late-stage treatment to earlier intervention through population sensing and AI.
• AI for Humanity Prize A prize offering up to $150,000 in unrestricted funding to teams using artificial intelligence, machine learning, or data science for social impact solutions in health, climate, learning, economic opportunity, or Indigenous community priorities.
• The Solve Effect Podcast A podcast by MIT Solve featuring interviews with leaders, visionaries, and barrier-breakers who use technology for social impact, exploring topics from AI ethics to community resilience.

Quantifiable outcome

• 430 million+ lives reached by solver solutions
• +2 more outcomes

Segments2 records

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

AI capability2 records

Feature1 record

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered flagship and core.

• Truist FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 10 June 2026Collaboration on the Inspire Awards Challenge, offering over $1 million in grants and in-kind services to nonprofits helping adult workers adapt to AI-driven workplace changes. Fourth year of partnership.
• Future HealthflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 22 May 2026Partnership on the inaugural Future Health Challenge at the 79th World Health Assembly in Geneva, awarding $300,000 to early detection and population health solutions.
• S&P Global FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 12 January 2026Collaboration on the StepForward: Essential Innovation Challenge, offering $200,000 grants to six winning nonprofit organizations (total prize pool of $1.2M) to equip youth aged 18-24 with AI literacy and future-ready skills.
• Macquarie GroupflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 December 2025Macquarie Community Resilience Prize offering up to $1,000,000 to up to 10 winning teams working on climate-resilient communities in Brazil, Australia, and Pacific Islands.
• UNFPA and OrganoncoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 17 November 2025The 4HerPower Challenge, launched 2023-2024 in collaboration with MIT Solve, provided $280,000 in grants to 14 women-led teams reaching 230,000+ women and girls with solutions spanning contraception access, gender-based violence support, and maternal health.
• Johnson & Johnson FoundationflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 15 October 2025Johnson & Johnson Foundation served as MIT Solve's Global Health Anchor Supporter, awarding $100,000 across six innovative teams at the 2025 Solve Challenge Finals during the 80th UN General Assembly.
• General MotorsflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 18 August 2025GM Challenge on Accelerate STEAM Education awarded $250,000 pool to up to five winning solutions increasing STEAM learning in the United States, with focus on automotive and technical career pathways.
• VerizonflagshipStrategic or Co-development Partner · 5 March 2025Verizon's 2025 Disaster Resilience Prize awarded $1 million in grants to four innovators developing next-generation disaster resilience technologies including wildfire prevention robots, lightning detection sensors, mobile solar arrays, and heat vulnerability mapping.
• AmazoncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerAmazon Sustainability Pilot Program challenge seeking innovative climate technology in material handling, lower-carbon fuels, or waste optimization to accelerate Amazon's path to net-zero carbon by 2040.
• FII InstitutecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerFII Innovators Pitch challenge leveraging AI and technology to transform climate change, healthcare, robotics, and learning environments.

Scale indicators7 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Ashoka: Global network supporting leading social entrepreneurs with funding, mentorship, and connections. Operates a fellowship-style selection model with similar funder relationships and a comparable mission of identifying breakthrough social innovators.
• Echoing Green: Provides fellowships and seed funding to emerging social entrepreneurs, with a comparable vetting-and-support model to Solve's solver program. Targets similar applicant personas (early-stage social innovators) and similar funding partners.
• New Profit: Venture philanthropy organization funding and supporting innovative social entrepreneurs and social impact ventures. Comparable model of curated selection plus long-term capacity-building support.
• XPRIZE: Operates large-scale, prize-based open innovation competitions to address global grand challenges, the most direct analogue to Solve's challenge prize model. Solves for similar corporate/foundation sponsors and global applicant pools.
• Grand Challenges Canada: Runs challenge-based innovation funding programs for global health and development, directly competing for the same pool of corporate, foundation, and government partners seeking structured social innovation sourcing.
• Draper Richards Kaplan Foundation: Early-stage social enterprise funder selecting and supporting a limited portfolio of high-potential ventures. Uses a similar vetting + multi-year support model and targets overlapping applicant pools.

Broad incumbents

• Skoll Foundation: Major social entrepreneurship funder backing proven social entrepreneurs with larger-scale capital. Overlaps with Solve's alumni of high-performing solvers and competes for the same institutional impact capital.
• Acumen: Impact investing organization supporting entrepreneurs addressing poverty through patient capital and advisory support. Competes with Solve for corporate and foundation partners seeking social innovation deployment vehicles.

Others

• Schmidt Futures: Philanthropic initiative of Eric Schmidt funding talent and innovation across science, technology, and society. Already a Solve partner; comparable funder profile for open-innovation and social impact programs.

Emerging players

• Katapult: Impact-focused accelerator and fund backing tech-driven startups solving global challenges. Represents the emerging venture-builder model competing for both solver talent and corporate partnership dollars.

Market position

Strengths4 records

Weaknesses4 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/solvemit

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles4 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds2 records

Investors5 records

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments11 records

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about MIT Solve