Welcome to the MIT Sandbox Portal!
New to the portal? Please click Register to create an account, otherwise log in.
Are you a New Team applying for the first time?
New Applications are only available to Climate Challenge Teams that have received confirmation in writing that they may apply for the 2026 Summer cohort. All others may apply in August/September to our Fall 2026 cohort.
Special Instructions for Climate Challenge Teams
When completing your application forms, please enter your Climate Challenge Award Amount where you are asked for your requested funding amount. This is to allow you to enter a budget that matches your Challenge Funding. You are not being asked to re-apply for funding nor are you applying for additional funding from Sandbox.
Instructions for New Applicants (All Applying in Fall and Climate Challenge Teams for Summer):
Congratulations on pursuing an entrepreneurial experience at MIT! Before you apply, please be sure to review eligibility requirements and program requirements.
A designated Primary Contact should complete the application for the team. Team members will be invited as collaborators and will receive an email invite to access the portal and enter their personal information.
To complete this application, the Primary Contact for the team will need the following:
- A clear description of the problem that your idea addresses.
- A clear, high-level description of the proposed solution
- If possible, identify your competition (companies, products, technologies or status quo)
- A very short description of your project that can be shared publicly
- A description of the team members and their skills
- A high-level project plan, including milestones
- A description of achievements to date
- Teams applying for $5K or more must provide a pitch deck.
- All other teams are encouraged but not required to provide a pitch deck.
- EMBA students are not eligible for Sandbox, but are encouraged to apply to VMS for
mentoring support. - Teams may pitch to the Funding Board only two times
- A budget plan showing how you will use your Sandbox funds. Refer to the Sandbox purchasing guidelines which lists permitted and prohibited use of funds
Budget for early ideation teams: If you are in the early ideation stage, the focus is on market research and customer discovery, which typically does not have many associated costs. For your budget, consider what you would need to support that research. Perhaps you need to travel to meet a customer or you may need to hold a focus group session. Relative to software and other resources, there are many resources on campus you can leverage for free. Submitting a budget for $500 or less is acceptable.
If you have any questions, please email sandbox@mit.edu.
Occasional Error Message when completing your form
When you click Complete or Submit for your application form, you may once in a while receive the error message below. Our testing has shown that your information is still recorded. Simply return to your application form to check that your answers are up to date & try again. We have notified our vendor of the problem and are awaiting a resolution.
MIT Sandbox Innovation Fund Program
Welcome to the MIT Sandbox Portal!
New to the portal? Please click Register to create an account, otherwise log in.
Are you a New Team applying for the first time?
New Applications are only available to Climate Challenge Teams that have received confirmation in writing that they may apply for the 2026 Summer cohort. All others may apply in August/September to our Fall 2026 cohort.
Special Instructions for Climate Challenge Teams
When completing your application forms, please enter your Climate Challenge Award Amount where you are asked for your requested funding amount. This is to allow you to enter a budget that matches your Challenge Funding. You are not being asked to re-apply for funding nor are you applying for additional funding from Sandbox.
Instructions for New Applicants (All Applying in Fall and Climate Challenge Teams for Summer):
Congratulations on pursuing an entrepreneurial experience at MIT! Before you apply, please be sure to review eligibility requirements and program requirements.
A designated Primary Contact should complete the application for the team. Team members will be invited as collaborators and will receive an email invite to access the portal and enter their personal information.
To complete this application, the Primary Contact for the team will need the following:
- A clear description of the problem that your idea addresses.
- A clear, high-level description of the proposed solution
- If possible, identify your competition (companies, products, technologies or status quo)
- A very short description of your project that can be shared publicly
- A description of the team members and their skills
- A high-level project plan, including milestones
- A description of achievements to date
- Teams applying for $5K or more must provide a pitch deck.
- All other teams are encouraged but not required to provide a pitch deck.
- EMBA students are not eligible for Sandbox, but are encouraged to apply to VMS for
mentoring support. - Teams may pitch to the Funding Board only two times
- A budget plan showing how you will use your Sandbox funds. Refer to the Sandbox purchasing guidelines which lists permitted and prohibited use of funds
Budget for early ideation teams: If you are in the early ideation stage, the focus is on market research and customer discovery, which typically does not have many associated costs. For your budget, consider what you would need to support that research. Perhaps you need to travel to meet a customer or you may need to hold a focus group session. Relative to software and other resources, there are many resources on campus you can leverage for free. Submitting a budget for $500 or less is acceptable.
If you have any questions, please email sandbox@mit.edu.
Occasional Error Message when completing your form
When you click Complete or Submit for your application form, you may once in a while receive the error message below. Our testing has shown that your information is still recorded. Simply return to your application form to check that your answers are up to date & try again. We have notified our vendor of the problem and are awaiting a resolution.