MIT Motorsports

What MIT Motorsports does

MIT Motorsports is a student-run organization at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that designs, manufactures, and races a new electric Formula-style race car every year for FSAE competition. The team is composed of approximately 125 MIT students organized into Executive, Mechanical, Electrical, Software, Autonomous, Vehicle Performance, and Business sub-teams, with members typically dedicating over 20 hours per week on top of full-time studies. The latest vehicle, the Model Year 26 (MY26), is described as a fully in-house design and build with a curb weight of 212 kg, 0-60 mph acceleration in 3.4 seconds, and a top speed of 73 mph.

The organization does not sell commercial products or services. It is funded entirely through corporate sponsorships across Platinum, Gold, Silver, Bronze, and Affiliate tiers, alongside donations routed through MIT's giving portal and direct institutional support from MIT departments including the Edgerton Center, EECS, MechE, AeroAstro, and MITEI. Its primary "customer" is the MIT student body it serves as a hands-on engineering education platform, while its downstream stakeholders are over 50 sponsoring organizations spanning automotive OEMs (General Motors, Ford, Toyota Racing Development), Tier-1 suppliers (Magna, Brembo), EDA and simulation vendors (Ansys, Altium, ASML), aerospace and space companies (Blue Origin, Stoke Space, Mach Industries), and financial and software firms (Accel, Jane Street, Palo Alto Networks, Segments.ai). The team markets itself through organic social channels on Instagram, Facebook, and YouTube.

Name

MIT Motorsports

Legal name

MIT Motorsports

Website

https://fsae.mit.edu

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

51–100 employees

Short description

MIT Motorsports is an MIT student-run organization of about 125 members that designs, builds, and races an electric Formula-style race car annually for FSAE competition, funded entirely through corporate sponsorships and MIT department support.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Engineering Education / Student Motorsports

NAICS

Sporting and Athletic Goods Manufacturing (33992)

SIC

Services-Racing, Including Track Operation (7948)

akta.pro primary industry

Motorsports Teams & Entrants (Factory & Independent) (MPAKAGAB)

akta.pro secondary industry

Hybrid Powertrain Integration Manufacturing (ICE-HEV/PHEV modules) (IMACAHAJ)

Keywords

• Electric race car engineering
• Student motorsports team
• FSAE competition vehicle
• Hands-on engineering education
• Formula-style race car design

Headquarters

HQ city

Cambridge

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Sponsorship and Donations: MIT Motorsports operates as a student organization funded entirely through corporate sponsorships, MIT department support (MIT Edgerton Center, MIT EECS, MIT MechE, MIT AeroAstro, MITEI), and individual donations via MIT's giving portal. No commercial revenue is generated.

Go-to-market motion1 record

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

MIT Motorsports is a student-run team at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology that fully designs, manufactures, and races an electric Formula One style race car each year for FSAE (Formula Society of Automotive Engineers) competitions. The team, with approximately 125 members who each dedicate 20+ hours per week, operates across Executive, Mechanical, Electrical, Software, Autonomous, Vehicle Performance, and Business sub-teams to build vehicles such as the Model Year 26 (MY26) car. The team's output is purely educational and competitive, with no commercial products sold.

Product overview

MIT Motorsports is a student-run team that designs, manufactures, and races a new electric Formula One style race car every year. The organization operates as a single-product team, with their annual race car (currently MY26) as the core product. Team members dedicate over 20 hours weekly alongside full-time studies to develop the vehicle through complete design and manufacturing cycles.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• MY26 Electric Race Car MIT Motorsports' flagship electric Formula One style race car, fully designed and manufactured by the student team. Used annually in FSAE (Formula Society of Automotive Engineers) competitions to provide hands-on engineering education to MIT students. Not sold commercially.

Quantifiable outcome

• 80% year-over-year retention rate demonstrating sustained team engagement and success

Segments1 record

Ideal customer profiles2 records

Technology focussed Yes

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Feature1 record

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• UC Berkeley Formula Racing: Another top-tier U.S. engineering school's FSAE team that designs and races formula-style race cars in the same sanctioned competition series as MIT Motorsports. Operates with a similar student-engineer model and competes head-to-head with MIT at FSAE events.
• Cornell Racing (Cornell FSAE): Cornell University's FSAE electric racing team built on student-led engineering sub-teams and corporate sponsorships. Directly competes with MIT Motorsports in the same sanctioned series with a comparable talent and tooling base.
• Georgia Tech Yellow Jacket Motorsports: Georgia Tech's FSAE team, similarly structured around a multidisciplinary student sub-team organization and annual race car build. Comparable in scale, sponsorship model, and competition footprint to MIT Motorsports.
• Stanford Motorsport (Formula SAE): Stanford University's FSAE/Formula-style racing team operating with an equivalent model: student engineers, annual car design/manufacture, EV and combustion variants, and recruitment from a premier engineering talent pool. Direct competition peer in the same series.
• Purdue Formula SAE: Purdue University's FSAE team fielding electric and combustion vehicles with a multi-sub-team student organization model. Directly competes with MIT Motorsports in FSAE and shares the same talent- and sponsor-driven operating structure.
• Texas A&M Formula SAE Racing: Texas A&M's Formula SAE team operating with the same annual design/build/race cycle and tiered sponsor program. Competes head-to-head with MIT Motorsports in FSAE and shares a similar multi-sub-team structure.
• Cal Poly Formula SAE (Cal Poly Racing): Cal Poly SLO's Formula SAE program, historically one of the strongest in North America, with a similar student-engineer build cycle. Directly competes with MIT Motorsports in the same competition series with a comparable sponsorship-driven operating model.
• Virginia Tech Formula SAE: Virginia Tech's FSAE team that fields both ICE and electric entries, structured around student engineering sub-teams and a tiered corporate sponsorship program. Directly competes in the same series as MIT Motorsports with a comparable operating model.
• University of Michigan FSAE (Michigan Motorsports): One of the longest-running and best-resourced Formula SAE programs in North America, fielding both combustion and electric entries. Directly competes with MIT Motorsports in FSAE events and shares the same student-engineer and sponsor-funded operating model.

Broad incumbents

• Andretti Autosport: Professional motorsports team competing in IndyCar and Formula E. Operates in the broader motorsports entrant space that MIT Motorsports participates in at the student level, providing context on the upper-tier, professionally funded version of the entrant model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCtUTv52fJi8hfXDDovnQHeA
• Facebookfacebook.com/mitfsae
• Instagraminstagram.com/mitmotorsports
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/mitmotorsports

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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

M&A

Investments

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

Frequently asked questions about MIT Motorsports