Throughout the academic year, the teams take part in a process that includes industry and legal mentorship, multiple live judging rounds, prototyping and pitch workshops, expense accounts for venture development, networking events with sponsors and alumni, and the awarding of roughly US$300,000 in non-dilutive prize money.
Subsequently, the competition has rebranded itself with a larger grant amount of $100K and is called the MIT $100K Pitch Contest.
It is held in the winter of the academic year and is intended to help teams build a robust prototype for their start-up idea.
Teams work on creating a demonstration of their idea over December and January, and the best selected are the ACCELERATE Finale Show.
MIT $100K provides resources and mentorship to help teams build their demonstrations, which will be reviewed by a panel of judges, with the winner receiving a cash prize.
Participants present full-scale business plans for the chance to win a $100,000 grand prize.
The goal was to create a safe, nurturing, (relatively controlled) sandbox environment where fledgling entrepreneurs could try their wings.