Our Impact
The MIT Climate and Energy Prize (MIT CEP) began in 2007 and is now approaching its 17th annual competition in 2024. We’ve had some incredible talent come through our prize and our alumni startups and entrepreneurs are now out there changing the world!
$1.7 B
in follow-on funding raised by
MIT CEP alumni start-ups
$3.5 M
in non-dilutive cash prizes
awarded by MIT CEP
51%
MIT CEP alumni finalists are
still pursuing their businesses
280+
MIT CEP start-ups mentored
Our Alumni: Making an Impact
““The competition continues to attract the nation’s brightest minds for turning innovative ideas into marketplace realities to build a clean energy economy.””
“We’re in the middle of a fundraising round. It’s going very well and I’m very pleased about this. And things like the MIT Clean Energy prize are hugely influential to helping us.”
““Forget the Oscars. For student entrepreneurs, the MIT Clean Energy Prize is the most watched show in town.””
““Winning the renewables track of the 2013 MIT Clean Energy Prize was life-changing for us - it was the first step in the transformation from a bunch of students with an exciting idea into a credible team that is now backed by brilliant angel investors and the U.S. Department of Energy SunShot Initiative. And for my co-founder Ido and me, at a time we chose not to pursue traditional job opportunities and graduated with student loans, the prize money was like oxygen for a newborn baby. We wouldn’t be where we are without the CEP. Period.””
““The energy sector has had and continues to have a shortage of entrepreneurs. The MIT Clean Energy Prize is surfacing innovative technologies out of universities, but more importantly, it is training the energy entrepreneurs of tomorrow. These entrepreneurs will pay dividends not just once but over and over again.””
“The CEP competition provided me and my startup with an incredible amount of connections and resources that were invaluable to our company’s journey. By winning the competition, Lithio Storage was given a spotlight to the community that allowed us to interact with investors, fellow scientists, and government agencies that would have never been possible without this competition.”