GENERAL RULES

  • There is no fee for entry.

  • Submissions may be entered by individuals or teams.

  • Each team may enter one idea.

  • Each team must have at least one currently registered MIT student; if you are submitting as an individual, you must be a currently registered MIT student.

  • Currently registered MIT students include all full-time and part-time undergraduates and graduate students, including PhD/doctoral candidates.

  • MIT students must submit their @mit.edu email address at submission time.

  • Required events must be attended by at least one MIT student on each team. Team members who are not MIT students are also encouraged to attend, but at least one MIT student per team is required to attend.

  • A single individual cannot be the sole qualifying student for two teams.

  • Entries must be the original work of entrants.

  • Teams must disclose any funding already received at the time of registration.

    • Teams must not have accepted any equity funding (e.g., venture capital (VC), Angel, or other dilutive funding) for the idea being presented. In other words, the team cannot have sold equity to anyone outside the team – including non-managing founders. This includes convertible notes and Simple Agreements for Future Equity (“SAFEs”). The only exception to this restriction is if the team has accepted an investment from a STUDENT-LED venture fund (e.g. General Catalyst’s Dorm Room Fund, First Round Capital’s Rough Draft Ventures). This exception is permitted only for ACCELERATE and LAUNCH, and only if the dollar amount accepted from student-led venture funds, combined with any other funding from non-equity sources, does not exceed $150,000 if applying to ACCELERATE or $250,000 if applying to LAUNCH. This exception is not applicable for PITCH.

    • Teams must not have accepted non-equity external funding in excess of $100,000 if applying to PITCH, $150,000 if applying to ACCELERATE, and $250,000 if applying to LAUNCH. Non-equity funding includes prizes, grants, donations from friends and family, and bank loans.

  • There are forms of funding and questions of eligibility that may fall into a gray area. In these cases, the $100K Organizing Committee will deliberate on the eligibility and communicate the decision to the team. The decision of the Organizing Committee on the eligibility of the entrant is final and cannot be appealed.

  • The Judging Panel reserves the right to disqualify any entry.

ELIGIBILITY DETAILS

Teams are encouraged to seek the involvement of MIT faculty, alumni, post-docs, researchers, staff, students from other schools, and people from outside the MIT community. All team members must be full-fledged members of the team.

By submitting a business plan, you represent and warrant to the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition that you have all right, title and/or interest in the business plan submitted and the information it contains is accurate and complete, and that by submitting the document to the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition you are not and will not be violating any contract or third party rights including any patent, copyright, trade secret, proprietary or confidential information, trademark, publicity or privacy right.

The Judging Panel of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition reserves the right to disqualify any entry that in its judgment violates the letter or the spirit of the Competition guidelines, processes and rules of the MIT $100K Entrepreneurship Competition. The decisions of the Judging Panel are final and binding.

PRIZE PAYMENTS

  • Equal shares of any prize money won will be paid to each individual on a winning team.

  • If equity (stock) is divided among the team members, then teams with non-MIT students can only receive equity if the MIT students on the team also have equity in the company.

  • The individual recipients of prize money will be responsible for the tax implications of their winnings.

  • Teams may forfeit their individual shares of prize money in favor of granting the full amount of the prize money to a registered business entity if, and only if, all of the following conditions are met:

    • Team's business entity has a Federal Tax Identification Number (also known as an Employer ID Number) by 15 days prior to the finals date.

    • All members of the team have agreed in writing to forfeit their individual portions of the prize money in favor of granting the full amount of the prize money to the registered business entity. We strongly recommend that teams seek legal consultation prior to signing such an agreement.

  • MIT faculty are not eligible for prize money; the payment they receive is distributed among team members. However, they can participate on teams.

  • Note that 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.